Unraveling the aromatic essence of baked green tea using sensomics: insights from three representative cultivars

Tea cultivars significantly influence aroma, yet essential odorants linked to specific cultivars remain underexplored. In this study, an integrated sensomics approach identified 57, 50, and 59 odorants in three representative baked green tea cultivars using sequential stir-bar sorptive extraction coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry/olfactometry, ultimately pinpointing eight key cultivar-specific odorants. The “sweet/green” notes in ‘Zhongcha 108’ were primarily attributed to cedrol (18.52 ng/mL, enhancing aroma by up to 176 % compared to the blank matrix). Indole, methyl salicylate, geraniol, and γ -dodecalactone were closely associated with the “floral” character of ‘Zhongcha 302’ (1.30–895.86 ng/mL, increasing aroma by up to 510 %). Viridiflorol, theaspirane B, and α -ionone contributed to the “sweet/floral” notes in ‘Fuding Dabaicha’ (trace levels to 12.47 ng/mL, enhancing aroma by up to 163 %). Furthermore, the aroma profile of ‘Zhongcha 302’ was successfully reconstructed based on its quantified odorants, achieving >90 % similarity to the original tea.