## 2 Results and Discussion  
The number of chemicals effectively contributing to the flavor of food (key aroma, key taste, and trigeminally active compounds) is relatively small. Molecular sensory science, nowadays referred to as sensomics, is the reference discipline to correlate food flavor perception with its molecular code [31]. Sensomics has established a protocol that combines multiple discrete steps aimed at isolating, extracting, and concentrating odor-active and taste-active compounds before their qualification (odor/taste characterization and description), accurate quantification, and validation in flavor recombinates. Once decrypted, the molecular flavor code is a valuable tool for predicting product sensory features [28; 31]. However, the analytical approaches adopted by sensoric workflows are not compatible with, nor suitable for, QC and QA food assessment, where simpler platforms and full automation are key characteristics for high sample throughput and method reliability.  
With this perspective, the current study aims to develop and validate molecularly resolved analytical tools, compatible with QC and QA labs, for AI sensing and prediction of black tea infusion flavor and quality. The strategy should therefore integrate an accurate quantification of volatile key aromas and non-volatile taste-active and quality markers in a suitable range of concentrations covering real-world samples of industrial interest.  
Concerning aroma-active compounds, the adoption of a suitable sampling technique is fundamental to obtaining a meaningful picture of components evoking the sensory identity and quality profile of the product [32]. In this respect, so-called high-concentration-capacity sampling techniques (HCC) [33; 34; 35; 36; 33] are the elective route to achieving suitable selectivity, sensitivity, and quantification accuracy to provide high-throughput informative analysis in full automation. In a previous study, several HCC approaches were tested for their capability to efficiently and accurately delineate the aroma blueprint of black tea from Ceylon [3]. Of the tested techniques, HS-SPME-GC-MS was the most suitable for the in-solution sampling of key-aroma compounds, providing the possibility of accurate quantification of analytes by standard addition (SA) and calibration [37].  
Regarding taste-active and trigeminally active compounds, teas are characterized by a complex pattern of specialized metabolites belonging to the flavonoid and methyl xanthine classes, which are responsible for taste and trigeminal sensations. In particular, _ caffeine_ is responsible for bitterness while glycosidic derivates of flavonoids (_querctin_, _myrictin_, and _kaempferol_) are the most taste-active analytes, imparting a mouth-drying and velvety-like astringency. In addition, an important role in defining tea quality (dried plant and related infusion) is also played by flavan-3-ols, which exert a minor but not negligible contribution on overall tea astringency perception. Depending on their concentration, flavan-3-ols (catechins) and dimeric derivates (theaflavins) evoke a puckering astringency and rough oral sensation [38].  
The following sections present and critically discuss the experimental results on the quali-quantitative profiling of the most potent flavor components of selected teas after standardized infusion according to the EMA/HMPC/283630/2012 Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC) protocol. Teas were all fermented (i.e., black teas) and were from Ceylon (_Flower Orange Pekoc_--FOP), India (Assam, Darjeeling Testa Valley, Darjeeling Castleton), Portugal (Azores), China (Yunnan), and Kenya.