Comprehensive analysis reveals the contribution of “rolling-anaerobic” processing to the improved aroma, taste and color of GABA black tea

GABA black tea (GABT), produced by the combination of anaerobic treatment and Chinese traditional black tea processing technology, has a unique flavor and health benefits. However, how to manufacture high-quality GABT efficiently is the major challenge for this area. In this study, a processing improvement of multiple rolling-anaerobic treatment cycle was applied to prepare tailored GABTs, and their comprehensive quality including aroma, taste and color were analyzed. The sensory evaluation results showed that the improvement significantly optimized the overall GABT quality. The accumulation of linalool oxide Ⅰ, citronellol, etc. was the main reason for the superior aroma of tailored GABT, while the dynamic changes of sweet/umami amino acids, catechins and tea pigments played critical roles in the GABT taste and color quality formation during processing. Furthermore, correlation analysis was applied to determine the contribution of various processing steps. These findings provide a novel manufacturing method for high-quality GABT products.