Enantiomeric distributions of volatile lactones and terpenoids in white teas stored for different durations

Precise identification of the compounds characteristic to stored white teas is urgently needed as these products have unique flavors and health benefits that improve with storage duration. Owing to the potential applications in food quality discrimination, specific regularities between the enantiomeric distributions of 23 volatile lactones and terpenoids and storage durations of white teas were expected and investigated by enantioselective gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Es-GC-MS) combined with multivariate statistical analysis. High correlation coefficients (−0.853 to 0.695) and significant differences (P < 0.001) between the enantiomeric ratios (ERs) of (2S, 5S)-linalool oxide A, (2S, 5R)-linalool oxide B, (2R, 5S)-theaspirane B, S-linalool, and (1R, 2S)-methyl epijasmonate and the storage durations (0–7 years) were obtained, and the contents of S-linalool and S/R-dihydroactinidiolide significantly decreased and increased, respectively, with the increasing of storage duration. Therefore, the aforementioned lactone and terpenoid enantiomers are potential markers for the reliable differentiation of white teas stored for different time periods.