Objective To curtail the rising cost of quality jasmine flowers for producing the popular Fujian jasmine tea, possibility of using the leaves plucked from the highly aromatic tea cultivars to boost the flavor was investigated.

Method Leaves plucked from the bushes of highly aromatic tea cultivars (HATC), including ‘Ruixiang’, ‘Huangmeigui’ and ‘Jinmudan’, were used to make jasmine teas following the conventional method. Sensory evaluation was conducted on the HATC tea samples before and after scenting with jasmine flowers. Aromatics in the samples were analyzed by headspace solid-phase microextraction combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and principal components determined.

Result Without scenting of jasmine flowers, the HATC teas had a natural floral and fruity aroma, and the brewed tea tasted refreshing and carried a pleasant fragrance. After scenting, the Jinmudan tea received the highest score (i.e., 68 out of 70) on overall sensory quality with the characteristic rich and lasting peachy and the like fruity note. The sweet and mellow Ruixiang tea ranked closely second with a score of 67.30, while the last ranking Huangmeigui tea with a score of 64.75 was detected with a faint apple tang. The aroma was pronounced in the steeped scented HATC teas, and chemically, the composition of aromatics, such as benzyl acetate, indole, methyl anthranilate, linalool, and methyl benzoate in it were changed significantly as well. The relative contents of benzyl acetate and linalool in the teas increased in varying degrees. For instance, in the Huangmeigui tea, indoles rose from 3.35 μg·g⁻¹ to 6.52 μg·g⁻¹, and methyl anthranilate from nondetectable to 6.83 μg·g⁻¹; and in the Ruixiang tea, methyl benzoate from being not detected to 6.32 μg·g⁻¹. The high JTF and XFJTF, the quantified fragrancy indexes of jasmine teas, of the Jinmudan variety suggested a superiority over other HATC teas.

Conclusion The jasmine teas made from the leaves of HATC cultivars, especially Jinmudan, were highly appealing with an intense floral and fruity aroma and could be steeped to be a eloquently fragrant and tasty drink.