Aroma compounds with enhanced sweet perception in tea infusions: Screening, characterization, and sweetening mechanism

Abstract

Introduction: Tea (Camellia sinensis) is globally consumed for its pleasant flavor, with sweetness being a key factor in evaluating tea quality. While taste compounds contribute to this sweetness, aroma also plays a significant role, but its contribution is not well understood in tea infusion.

Objectives: This study aimed to identify aroma compounds that enhance sweetness in tea infusion using a sensomics approach, and explore their synergistic effects through molecular docking.

Results: The aroma increased the sweetness of the tea infusion by more than 24.0 %. Eighteen aroma-active compounds linked to sweetness were identified, among which (E)-β-damascenone (apple-like), linalool (citrus-like), geraniol (citrus-like), dimethyl sulfide (corn-like), (E,E)-2,4-heptadienal (floral), (E,Z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber-like), (E)-linalool oxide (furanoid) (floral), dihydroactinidiolide (fruity), γ-nonalactone (coconut-like), and (E)-β-ionone (floral) had higher sweetness similarity and significantly increased the sweet intensity of sucrose (p < 0.05). They likely enhance sweetness by reducing the binding energy of sucrose to sweet taste receptors, forming new hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions.

Conclusion: This study provides new insights into the role of aroma compounds in tea sweetness and suggests a potential mechanism for their sweetening effect. These compounds could be used as flavour enhancers or additives to improve the sweetness of tea beverages.

Keywords: Aroma-associated sweet; Key aroma compounds; Molecular docking; Sweet perception; Sweet taste receptor; Tea infusion.