Quality Characteristics of a Pickled Tea Processed by Submerged Fermentation

There is a traditional pickled tea fermented under anaerobic condition in many Asian countries, but its quality characteristics are still unclear. The dynamic qualities, chemical components, and volatile components of pickled tea processed by submerged fermentation were investigated. The results showed that the sensory qualities of the pickled tea gradually improved with increasing fermentation time. Sensory qualities decreased gradually after 7 d of fermentation, and the change was extremely significant (p < 0.01). Correspondingly, biochemical indicators (except for soluble extract) decreased continuously and significantly (p < 0.01) within 5–7 d of fermentation, but the decrease was much slower in the later stage. The proper control of fermentation time is a key step for obtaining the desired quality of pickled tea. By submerged fermentation for 7 d, the best sensory quality of pickled tea was obtained: the taste of pickled tea was less bitter and astringent, but certainly acidic; the flavor of pickled tea was sour with sweet and floral tastes; the tea had low caffeine content, high gamma-amino butyric acid content, and high contents of special volatile components, such as hotrienol and 2,6-bis (1,1-dimethylethyl)-4-methyl-phenol. Results indicated that submerged fermentation is potentially a new method of processing pickled tea to obtain the desired quality. Our results contribute to the understanding of the microbial transformation of tea components under anaerobic conditions.