Co-fermentation of Ganpu tea with Chachi peel alters its chemical profile, reducing certain compounds while increasing others, thus enhancing its unique flavor.
Experimental Study Gan Pu Tea Pu-Erh Tea
In the research, the effects of Chachi peel cofermentation on the chemical profile of Ganpu tea were examined using an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-Q Exactive Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QE Orbitrap MS)-based qualitative and quantitative method combined with multivariate analysis. A total of 171 compounds were identified using a three-level strategy, including seven phenolic acids, 11 flavan-3-ols, and 27 flavonoids and flavonoid glycosides identified in pu-erh tea for the first time.
The principal component analysis (PCA) of untargeted metabolomics and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) models of targeted components revealed significant differences in the chemical profiles between raw pu-erh tea and Ganpu tea. The cofermentation process significantly reduced the total contents of phenolic acids, flavan-3-ols, and flavonoid aglycone. However, most of the quercetin glycosides, myricetin glycosides, and vitexin increased significantly. Additionally, hesperidin, a flavonoid glycoside only found in Chachi, was detected in pu-erh tea for the first time after cofermentation.
Hence, this process clearly impacts the chemical composition and content changes in pu-erh tea, suggesting that cofermentation accelerates the fermentation of pu-erh tea and improves its unique taste.
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