Quality characterization of commercial jasmine tea beverages: sensory, physicochemical, and electronic tongue evaluation

To systematically characterize the quality of commercial jasmine tea beverages, nine flavored and six pure jasmine tea samples were selected for the characterization using modified quantitative descriptive analysis, physicochemical determination, colorimetric analysis, and electronic tongue technology. The sensory results showed that the flavored tea beverages could be characterized by high sweetness, low bitterness, low astringency, and little jasmine tea aroma. Pure tea beverages presented the characteristic aroma of jasmine tea but revealed a stewed and stuffy odor and a bitter and astringent taste. Flavored tea beverages had higher solids, free amino acids, tea polyphenols, and catechins content than pure products. Correlation analysis indicated that sensory profiles, especially taste, were closely related to physicochemical components. Sweetness, bitterness, astringency, and aftertaste-A were obviously fluctuated among the pure tea samples. Accordingly, this study is conducive to a comprehensive understanding of the quality of jasmine tea beverages and provides data references for the industry.