Comprehensive Testing of green Tea

Quality control, authentication, habitat, grade and shelf life of green tea are not only due to their significant economic aspect but also with respect to natural stimulants and quality of life of high relevance. 

Green tea is very precious product of the daily life especially in Southeast Asia consumed by hundreds of million people every day. Therefore quality control with regard to several aspects plays an important role from manufacturer’s, but especially from consumer’s point of view. The FlavourSpec^® is a reliable and easy-to-use analytical tool that stands out with regard to this application.

Relevant olfactory volatiles in tea are e.g. 3-hexenal, 2,3,-butandione, 2-nonenal and monoterpenes. As the IMS technology is very sensitive for these kind of compounds, the FlavourSpec^® is an ideal tool for the different analysis with respect to tea samples.

Within an extensive study using tea samples from China  the intensities of 101 signals from VOCs were selected by taking headspace samples and analyzing the data using G.A.S. in-house software 'Laboratory Analytical Viewer (LAV)'. Evaluation areas on characteristic signals were determined and differences between the tea samples regarding their kind, origin, quality and age could successfully be proved.