Objective Correlation between the organic acids and sensory quality of white tea that change in storage was studied.

Method Content of organic acids in white teas being stored for different years were determined by high performance liquid chromatography, and sensory quality of the brewed teas evaluated by a panel.

Results Of all tested white teas, the one-year-old White Silver Needles had the highest content of total organic acids that reached up to 21.92 mg·g⁻¹, while the Shoumei tea storaged for 16 years had the least amount of 4.43 mg·g⁻¹. An extremely significant correlation between total organic acids in the tea leaves and sensory quality of the brewed white teas was evident. Some of the individual acids were significantly associated with the taste and flavor of the brewed teas. For example, malic, acetic, succinic, and fumaric acids displayed correlation coefficients with the freshness connotation judged by the panelists at 0.444, 0.687, 0.399, and 0.612, respectively, and acetic and fumaric acids with the sweet taste at 0.348 and 0.516, respectively.

Conclusion The total organic acids in the white teas significantly correlated positively with the grade of fresh leaves (P＜0.01) and negatively with the storage time after processing. The acids also contributed to the sensory freshness and sweetness of the brewed white tea.