Correlation between Sensory Evaluation Scores and Flavor Attributes of Black Teas from Around the World

Abstract

Background: Black teas can be grouped into many types based on cultivar, region of origin, harvesting seasons, processing methods and other factors, all of which combine to produce different flavor attributes (taste and aroma). This study aimed to establish and predict the quality of different black teas based on the correlation between sensory evaluation scores and the principal chemical components.Results and Discussion: Sensory evaluation, analysis of the principal chemical components, as well as correlation analysis of black teas from around the world, were performed in this study. Statistical analysis showed that sensory scores were significantly and positively correlated with tea polyphenols, caffeine, amino acids, thearubigins and thearubigins/theaflavins ratio, and the correlation coefficient was 0.4166, 0.6595, 0.4379, 0.4196, 0.4165, respectively, which determined black tea quality. Furthermore, the taste quality showed a significant and positive correlation with caffeine, thearubigins and the ratio of thearubigins/theaflavins, which correlation coefficient was 0.4396, 0.6109, 0.4938, respectively.Conclusion: The aroma and taste of Chinese black teas were better than tea from other countries. The results may be attributed to the higher content of amino acids and caffeine in Chinese black teas.