Salting-out re-distillation combined with sensory-directed analysis to recover odor-active compounds for improving the flavor quality of instant Pu-erh tea

• Salting-out re-distillation was used to recover Pu-erh tea odor-active compounds. • Various recovery parameters were optimized to achieve an optimal process. • Effective recovery and concentration odor-active compounds via the developed method.. • The instant Pu-erh tea prepared with the developed method had good flavor quality. The objective of this study was to develop an effective recovery technology of odor-active compounds (OACs) to improve the flavor quality of instant Pu-erh tea (IPT) based on their released behaviors. Salting-out re-distillation (SRD) combined with sensory-directed analysis was developed. The contributing factors, including the soaking time of tea, recovery volume of condensed water of first distillation, amount of sodium chloride, recovery volume of condensed water of SRD, and re-use times of sodium chloride, were studied systematically. Under optimized conditions, 41 OACs were recovered in the first distillation, and the total recovery rate was 83.94%. Forty-one OACs were recovered via SRD, and the total recovery rate reached 72.29%, significantly better than membrane method (33.46%). The IPT prepared by adding OACs that recovered via SRD showed strong aroma attributes intensities and good coordination. This developed method can provide a more effective scheme to improve the flavor quality of IPT