Multi-Platform Metabolomic and Sensory Profiling Reveals Cultivar-Dependent Volatile, Taste, and Antioxidant Chemotypes in Guava Leaf Tea.
- 1Guangxi Subtropical Crops Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning 530001, China.
- 2Key Laboratory of Quality and Safety Control for Subtropical Fruit and Vegetable, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Nanning 530001, China.
- 3Guangxi Key Laboratory of Quality and Safety Control for Subtropical Fruits, Guangxi Subtropical Crops Research Institute, Nanning 530001, China.
Abstract
Guava (Psidium guajava L.) leaves are increasingly processed into caffeine-free herbal teas, valued for their rich phenolic composition and cultivar-dependent sensory profile. However, no systematic study has yet resolved how cultivar identity shapes the volatile, non-volatile, and functional dimensions of the finished tea. Here, eight guava tea cultivars were profiled using a multi-platform approach combining electronic nose sensing, headspace GC-MS, electronic-tongue analysis, non-targeted and targeted LC-MS metabolomics, and physicochemical indices. The eight cultivars were described by three volatile composition patterns: (i) a monoterpene-rich group, most pronounced in 'Yanzhi Hong', (ii) a compositionally diverse non-monoterpene group dominated by sesquiterpene esters and alkanes, and (iii) a group with a lower abundance of most discriminant volatiles-a pattern consistent across electronic nose sensor responses and GC-MS compound-level data. Electronic-tongue profiling identified largely independent instrumental taste-response modules. Instrumental astringency showed a robust, cross-platform-supported association with cultivars enriched in flavonoid glycosides (sparse partial least squares [sPLS] Q² = 0.733-0.900), whereas bitterness was statistically detectable but compositionally unresolved. Antioxidant (DPPH) capacity was only weakly associated with total phenolic and flavonoid contents (r = 0.188 for each), indicating that bulk phenolic indices alone did not adequately explain cultivar-level DPPH variation. Integrating these results into a candidate pathway-output framework indicated that aroma, taste, and antioxidant-related quality are shaped by partially independent metabolic axes rather than a single quality gradient. These findings provide a candidate-based, cultivar-resolved framework for guava leaf tea quality and identify candidate cultivars suited to terpene-rich, non-monoterpene, or phenolic-retention-oriented product development.
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BibTeX
@article{ma2026multiplatform,
title = {{Multi-Platform Metabolomic and Sensory Profiling Reveals Cultivar-Dependent Volatile, Taste, and Antioxidant Chemotypes in Guava Leaf Tea.}},
author = {Songqiong Ma and Shimiao Chen and Lin Ning and Jingsheng Fan and Jingwen Ai and Haojun Chen and Jiang He and Qinyu Lu and Gan-Lin Chen},
journal = {Foods (Basel, Switzerland)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/foods15203616},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42940252},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Multi-Platform Metabolomic and Sensory Profiling Reveals Cultivar-Dependent Volatile, Taste, and Antioxidant Chemotypes in Guava Leaf Tea.
AU - Songqiong Ma
AU - Shimiao Chen
AU - Lin Ning
AU - Jingsheng Fan
AU - Jingwen Ai
AU - Haojun Chen
AU - Jiang He
AU - Qinyu Lu
AU - Gan-Lin Chen
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/11
JO - Foods (Basel, Switzerland)
DO - 10.3390/foods15203616
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42940252
AB - Guava (Psidium guajava L.) leaves are increasingly processed into caffeine-free herbal teas, valued for their rich phenolic composition and cultivar-dependent sensory profile. However, no systematic study has yet resolved how cultivar identity shapes the volatile, non-volatile, and functional dimensions of the finished tea. Here, eight guava tea cultivars were profiled using a multi-platform approach combining electronic nose sensing, headspace GC-MS, electronic-tongue analysis, non-targeted and targeted LC-MS metabolomics, and physicochemical indices. The eight cultivars were described by three volatile composition patterns: (i) a monoterpene-rich group, most pronounced in 'Yanzhi Hong', (ii) a compositionally diverse non-monoterpene group dominated by sesquiterpene esters and alkanes, and (iii) a group with a lower abundance of most discriminant volatiles-a pattern consistent across electronic nose sensor responses and GC-MS compound-level data. Electronic-tongue profiling identified largely independent instrumental taste-response modules. Instrumental astringency showed a robust, cross-platform-supported association with cultivars enriched in flavonoid glycosides (sparse partial least squares [sPLS] Q² = 0.733-0.900), whereas bitterness was statistically detectable but compositionally unresolved. Antioxidant (DPPH) capacity was only weakly associated with total phenolic and flavonoid contents (r = 0.188 for each), indicating that bulk phenolic indices alone did not adequately explain cultivar-level DPPH variation. Integrating these results into a candidate pathway-output framework indicated that aroma, taste, and antioxidant-related quality are shaped by partially independent metabolic axes rather than a single quality gradient. These findings provide a candidate-based, cultivar-resolved framework for guava leaf tea quality and identify candidate cultivars suited to terpene-rich, non-monoterpene, or phenolic-retention-oriented product development.
SN - 2304-8158
ER -