## 1 Introduction  
Tea is recognized globally as the second most prevalent beverage after water. Depending on the manufacturing techniques and fermentation degrees, tea is primarily classified into six major categories. Among them, green tea stands as the most abundant tea type in terms of production and consumption in China, gaining widespread acceptance among consumers due to its extensive health benefits and distinctive aromas. Representative fragrances, such as floral aroma and chestnut-like aroma, are highly favored by consumers due to their delightful flavor characteristics [1]. Aroma is a crucial criterion in the assessment of tea quality. Essentially, it involves the intricate interplay of diverse concentrations and types of volatile substances. Currently, there are approximately 700 volatile components identified in tea, with more than 100 volatile components primarily found in fresh leaves [2]. The remaining volatile compounds are predominantly produced through diverse processing methods, suggesting that variations in these techniques can significantly affect the aroma of tea [3]. Spreading is an essential process for producing high-quality green tea. During the leaf-spreading process, progressive water loss induces cytoplasmic volume contraction. Endogenous enzyme activity may increase due to the concentration effect--a decrease in water content leads to higher effective concentrations of both enzymes and substrates, consequently accelerating the rate of enzymatic reactions [4]. This subsequently promotes the degradation of large molecules like chlorophyll, proteins, fatty acids, and polysaccharides in fresh leaves and generates secondary metabolites, which significantly affect the aroma, taste, and color of green tea [5]. The formation of a favorable aroma type in premium green tea is intimately associated with the spreading process [6; 7]. Light, as a critical environmental modulator, exerts profound regulatory effects on the metabolic pathways of _Camelia sinensis_. In addition, recent advances have revealed the practical applications of light-mediated interventions in postharvest tea processing. For instance, controlled light exposure during black tea withering has been demonstrated to enhance the aroma profiles by modulating enzymatic activities and gene expression patterns [8; 9]. Notably, emerging evidence demonstrates that yellow light irradiation during spreading significantly improves tea quality compared to red light and orange light treatments [10; 11]. The superior effect of yellow light may result from its regulation of secondary metabolite biosynthesis related to tea flavor and aroma [8; 12]. Nevertheless, to our knowledge, the effects of spreading on the sensory attributes and volatile compounds in green tea under yellow light with different intensities (YLDI) have yet to be thoroughly and comprehensively explored, which hinders the optimization of light-mediated regulating strategy in green tea production. The traditional assessment method for tea quality predominantly depends upon expert sensory analysis, which is susceptible to environmental factors and exhibits individual variability. As an important complement to conventional evaluation, the electronic nose is conceptualized on the principle of bionics and emulates the human olfactory system through an array of sensors, possessing the advantages of no pretreatments and rapid analysis. However, this technique is susceptible to sensor drift and contamination. In contrast to traditional electronic noses, the gas chromatography-based electronic nose (GC-E-Nose) is an odor analysis technology based on gas chromatography principles, facilitating the separation of odor substances through two distinct polarity chromatographic columns [13]. Owing to its distinguishing features of excellent sensitivity and swift analysis speed, GC-E-Nose is routinely utilized in profiling the volatile fingerprints of tea [14].