###### Abstract  
The oolong tea aroma is shown to consist of cultivar aroma and technical aroma in this study based on the aroma differences between oolong tea products of cultivars of different suitability, as determined by correlation analysis of olfactory, sensory, electronic nose, and GC-MS data. Human senses were significantly affected by the aroma components, which included eight per-pene metabolites (\(\beta\)-Ocimene, (Z)-Furan lanalool oxide, linalool, (3E)-4,8-Dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene, (E)-Pyranolol linalool oxide, \(\gamma\)-Elemene, Humulene, (Z,E)-\(\alpha\)-Farnesene), three carotenoid metabolites (\(\beta\)-Ionone, (Z)-Geranylacetone and 6-methyl-5-Hepten-2-one), three lipid metabolites ((Z)-3-Hexenyl (Z)-3-hexenoate, Butanoic acid hexyl ester, and (Z)-J-Jasmone), four amino acid metabolites (Methyl salicate, Geranyl isovalerate, indole, and Phenylethyl alcohol), and six thermal reaction products (2-Pentylfuran, Octanal, Decanal, (E,E)-2,4-Nonadienal, (Z)-2-Decanal, and (E)-2-Undecenal). Meanwhile, several aroma compounds (such as (E)-Nerolidol and \(\alpha\)-Farnesene), mainly comprising the \"technical aroma\" formed in the processing mode, were noted to be less closely related to cultivar suitability. This study sheds light on the aroma characteristics of different tea cultivars for oolong tea processing. oolong tea; cultivars; olfactory sensory; electronic nose; GC-MS; suitability 1  
19 August 2022  
14 September 2022  
16 September 2022  
1  
the unsuitable cultivar \"Zhenong 139\" during tea processing, and \"foshou\" was found to have a higher ratio of terpenoid volatiles (TVs) and green leaf volatiles (GLVs) than \"Zhenong 139\", so the ratio of TVs to GLVs was speculated to be related to the cultivar suitability of oolong tea and to have a potential effect on the chemical basis of the oolong tea aroma characteristics [3]. However, in their study, only one suitable oolong tea cultivar was used, suggesting insufficient evidence. Thus far, whether tea cultivars are suitable for making oolong tea has been judged mainly by sensory experts. The influence of tea cultivars on oolong tea aroma formation has rarely been studied, and the specific aroma components affecting the suitability are not often mentioned. This suggests the need to explore the possibility of judging the suitability of oolong tea cultivars through aroma analysis of different cultivars, with a focus on the contribution of aroma components to the suitability of oolong tea cultivars. The purpose of this study was to explore the suitability of oolong tea cultivars from the aroma perspective through correlation analysis of olfactory sensory, electronic nose, and GC-MS data based on the manufacturing process of \"qingxiang\" oolong tea, and using three suitable and three unsuitable oolong tea cultivars as the research objects. The sensory attributes of tea were evaluated by experienced experts according to widely used standards (such as Chinese national standards) [6]. Additionally, consumer evaluation is often used to evaluate food sensory attributes and predict the potential economic value of products [7; 8]. As a consumer product, consumer evaluation of tea is less often mentioned in tea research. In this study, a combination of expert evaluation and consumer evaluation was conducted to analyze the differences in aroma sensory attributes to determine the suitability of the selected tea cultivars. Electronic nose can simulate human senses and is often used to identify the aroma characteristics of food [9]. For example, electronic nose was used to identify the classification of Indian black tea [10]; electronic nose combined with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to monitor the aroma formation process of chestnut-flavored green tea [11]. A study reported that a change in pyridine content in coffee bean roasting was detected by electronic nose and SPME-GC-MS [12].