Potentially Important Aroma Compounds in Dark Tea and Volatile Compound Changes During Primary Pile Fermentation: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis
- 1Zhejiang Institute of Economics and Trade Hangzhou China.
- 2Tea Research Institute, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences Hangzhou China.
- 3College of Life Sciences and Medicine Zhejiang Sci-Tech University Hangzhou China.
Abstract
Pile fermentation is essential to the characteristic aroma of dark tea, yet studies have reported inconsistent changes in individual volatile compounds, leaving unclear which compounds change consistently and retain potential odor relevance after fermentation. We systematically searched six English- and Chinese-language databases and included 11 studies of primary solid-state pile fermentation of dark tea. Within-study relative concentration percentiles and odor activity values (OAVs) were used to characterize post-fermentation relative abundance and potential odor contribution. Random-effects meta-analysis was applied to comparisons quantifiable both before and after fermentation, whereas detection-state transitions were summarized separately for zero and non-detect data. Eighteen compounds met the prespecified criterion for potentially important aroma compounds. After Benjamini-Hochberg false-discovery-rate correction, 10 compounds increased significantly and one decreased significantly. Detection-state evidence further showed that methoxy-substituted aromatic compounds predominantly changed from non-detectable or non-quantifiable before fermentation to quantifiable after fermentation. Integrating the three evidence streams identified alpha-ionone, terpinen-4-ol, (E)-2-octenal, 1,2-dimethoxybenzene, 1,2,3-trimethoxybenzene, and 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene as fermentation-enriched potentially important aroma compounds, whereas linalool was fermentation-depleted but retained potential odor relevance after fermentation. This cross-study synthesis identifies compound-level patterns shared across dark-tea pile-fermentation systems and provides prioritized candidates for targeted quantification and sensory validation.
Related
- Essential Oils and Plant-Derived Volatile Compounds in the Treatment of Oral Candidiasis: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials in Denture Stomatitis
- GCI-TPs: Identifying Potentially Hazardous Transformation Products of Global Chemical Inventory Compounds
- A comparative analysis of the effect of different drying treatments on the volatile organic compounds of polygonati odorati rhizoma
- Urinary Biomarkers of Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Volatile Organic Compounds in San Joaquin Valley Families.
- Decoding the anti-adenoviral potential of Ocimum volatile organic compounds: linking chemical fingerprints to molecular targets via docking
BibTeX
@article{gong2026potentially,
title = {{Potentially Important Aroma Compounds in Dark Tea and Volatile Compound Changes During Primary Pile Fermentation: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis}},
author = {Shu Gong and Jinwei Xu and Guizhen Tang and Binyu Mao and Qinmei Zhang and Haimin Chen},
journal = {Food science \& nutrition},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/fsn3.72499},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13717213},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Potentially Important Aroma Compounds in Dark Tea and Volatile Compound Changes During Primary Pile Fermentation: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis
AU - Shu Gong
AU - Jinwei Xu
AU - Guizhen Tang
AU - Binyu Mao
AU - Qinmei Zhang
AU - Haimin Chen
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/28
JO - Food science & nutrition
DO - 10.1002/fsn3.72499
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13717213
AB - Pile fermentation is essential to the characteristic aroma of dark tea, yet studies have reported inconsistent changes in individual volatile compounds, leaving unclear which compounds change consistently and retain potential odor relevance after fermentation. We systematically searched six English- and Chinese-language databases and included 11 studies of primary solid-state pile fermentation of dark tea. Within-study relative concentration percentiles and odor activity values (OAVs) were used to characterize post-fermentation relative abundance and potential odor contribution. Random-effects meta-analysis was applied to comparisons quantifiable both before and after fermentation, whereas detection-state transitions were summarized separately for zero and non-detect data. Eighteen compounds met the prespecified criterion for potentially important aroma compounds. After Benjamini-Hochberg false-discovery-rate correction, 10 compounds increased significantly and one decreased significantly. Detection-state evidence further showed that methoxy-substituted aromatic compounds predominantly changed from non-detectable or non-quantifiable before fermentation to quantifiable after fermentation. Integrating the three evidence streams identified alpha-ionone, terpinen-4-ol, (E)-2-octenal, 1,2-dimethoxybenzene, 1,2,3-trimethoxybenzene, and 1,2,4-trimethoxybenzene as fermentation-enriched potentially important aroma compounds, whereas linalool was fermentation-depleted but retained potential odor relevance after fermentation. This cross-study synthesis identifies compound-level patterns shared across dark-tea pile-fermentation systems and provides prioritized candidates for targeted quantification and sensory validation.
SN - 2048-7177
ER -