## 3 Results
### Contribution of Chimonanthus Flowers Volatiles to Aroma Quality of Three Scented Chimonantthus Teas  
The surface of a tea dhool typically exhibits greater wrinkling and a larger surface area, endowing it with favorable adsorption characteristics. The process of scenting tea with flowers in a specific proportion encourages the tea dhools to absorb the floral fragrance, a technique well-known as the scenting process. This method serves as an effective measure to enhance aroma quality and diversify the aromatic profiles of tea. To ascertain the potential influence of Chimonanthus flowers on the aroma quality of three distinct tea dhools, Chimonanthus flowers were meticulously scented with LLYT, DHJZ, and HSMF dhools, respectively, followed by the analysis of volatile compounds in each tea dhool post-scenting using GC-MS (Figure 3). Following the scenting process with Chimonanthus flowers, the aroma composition of tea dhool underwent considerable alteration, with the contributions of alcohol and ester compounds becoming particularly prominent (Figure S1). This phenomenon may be attributed to the adsorption of these compounds contained in the Chimonanthus flowers by the tea dhool. Figure 2: Difference analysis of aroma quality of LLYT, DHJZ, and HSMF dhools. (**A**) Radar chart of distribution of different compounds in LLYT, DHJZ, and HSMF dhools. (**B**) A principal component analysis (PCA) score plot of volatile quality components of LLYT, DHJZ, and HSMF dhools. (**C**) Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) of volatile quality components of LLYT, DHJZ, and HSMF dhools. (**D**) The surface structure of LLYT, DHJZ, and HSMF dhools observed under a scanning electron microscopy. Abbreviations: LLYT, Large\(-\)leaf Yellow Tea; DHJZ, Dianhong jinzhen Tea; HSMF, Huangshan Maofeng Tea; NCs, Nitrogen compounds; OHs, Oxygen heterocyclics. Given that the three tea dhools exhibit markedly different surface structures and aroma compositions, it is plausible that they possess varying adsorption characteristics. To investigate the adsorption preferences of the three tea dhools to the aromas of Chimonanthus flowers, the accumulation patterns of common aromatic components before and after setting were analyzed using volcanic diagrams (Figure 4A-C). Specifically, LLYT, DHJZ, and HSMF dhools displayed 40, 31, and 38 common aromatic components, respectively, both before and after scenting with Chimonanthus flowers. The accumulation patterns of these common aromatic components were further analyzed through a heatmap, as illustrated in Figure 4D-F. In post-scenting with Chimonanthus flowers, the content percentage of linalool, methyl salicylate, and indole in the volatiles of LLYT dhool, as well as phenylmethanol, phenylmethyl acetate, methyl salicate, and eugenol in the volatiles of DHJZ dhool, and phenylmethanol, phenylmethyl acetate, and methyl salicate in the volatiles of HSMF dhool, exhibited a significant increase (FC \(>\) 2, \(p\) < 0.01). The linalool, methyl salicate, indole, phenylmethanol, phenylmethyl acetate, and eugenol in the flowers are absorbed by the tea dhools, substantially amplified the role of these volatiles in enhancing aroma quality. Among these, linalool, indole, and phenylmethanol  
Figure 3: GC-MS traces of aroma components in three tea dhools before and after scenting with Chimonanthus flowers. contribute predominantly floral/sweet flavor to Chimonanthus tea, while methyl salicylate and eugenol impart spicy/herbal aromas, and component phenylmethyl acetate provide fruitier flavor (Table S5). Following scenting, the content percentage of phenylmethyl acetate in DHJZ dhool increased approximately sevenfold, while in HSMF dhool it rose around sixfold. Additionally, the concentration of eugenol in DHJZ dhool also surged by nearly sevenfold. Figure 4: Difference analysis of common aroma components of LLYT, DHJZ, and HSMF before and after scenting with Chimonanthus flowers. **(A)** Volcanic diagram of different compounds in LLYT. **(B)** Volcanic diagram of different compounds in DHJZ.