Identification and Evaluation of Colour Change in Rosemary and Biluochun Tea Infusions.

IF 3.4 3区生物学 Q2 BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Metabolites Pub Date : 2025-04-11 DOI:10.3390/metabo15040265

Yuan Yuan, Caochuang Fang, Chaohan Li, Jiaqi You, Kun Ma

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: The colour of tea beverages during processing and storage significantly influences their visual quality. However, natural pink tea products are rare. This study investigated the mechanism behind the pink colouration in the mixed infusion of Biluochun (a green tea) and rosemary.

Methods: Infusions of Biluochun (B), rosemary (R), and their mixture (BR), brewed with boiling water for 10 min, were analysed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Additionally, the pH value and tea pigment content were measured.

Results: A total of 134 differential metabolites (DEMs) were detected. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis showed that phenylalanine metabolism and tyrosine metabolism pathways were enriched with abundant DEMs. Some amino acids in BR showed degradation. The content of pelargonin, a compound in the anthocyanin biosynthetic pathway, was significantly elevated in BR compared to that in B and R. DEMs related to fatty acid metabolism were at low levels in BR. Other compounds, such as quercetin, caffeate, rosmarinic acid, and isoferulic acid, were also more abundant in BR. No significant differences in pH value and tea pigment content were found among the three infusions.

Conclusions: A model of pink colouration formation in BR was proposed based on the results of this study. Some substances in Biluochun and rosemary were released during the brewing process. Tyrosine was converted into p-coumaric acid, which further reacted to form pelargonin. Pelargonin, an orange-red (pH ≈ 5.0) anthocyanin, was the primary contributor to the pink colouration in BR. Additionally, p-coumaric acid formed co-pigments such as quercetin, caffeic acid, rosmarinic acid, and isovaleric acid. These co-pigments stabilised or enhanced the colour of pelargonin through co-pigmentation. The findings provide a theoretical basis for optimising tea processing techniques and improving quality control in beverage production.

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迷迭香、碧螺春茶冲剂颜色变化的鉴别与评价。

背景：茶饮料在加工和储存过程中的颜色对其视觉质量有显著影响。然而，天然的粉红茶产品是罕见的。本研究探讨了碧螺春（一种绿茶）和迷迭香混合冲剂中粉红色的机制。方法：用液相色谱-质谱法（LC-MS）分析碧螺春(B)、迷迭香(R)及其混合物（BR）经沸水冲泡10 min后的输注物。测定了茶叶的pH值和茶色素含量。结果：共检测到134种差异代谢物（dem）。京都基因与基因组百科全书（KEGG）分析显示，苯丙氨酸代谢和酪氨酸代谢途径富含大量的dem。BR中部分氨基酸出现降解。与B和r相比，BR中花青素生物合成途径中的化合物天竺葵苷含量显著升高，与脂肪酸代谢相关的DEMs在BR中含量较低。其他化合物，如槲皮素、咖啡酸、迷迭香酸和异戊酸，在BR中也更丰富。三种冲剂的pH值和茶色素含量均无显著差异。结论：基于本研究的结果，提出了BR中粉红色形成的模型。碧螺春和迷迭香在酿造过程中释放出一些物质。酪氨酸转化为对香豆酸，对香豆酸进一步反应生成天竺葵素。月桂花青素是一种橙红色（pH≈5.0）花青素，是BR中粉红色的主要贡献者。此外，对香豆酸形成共色素，如槲皮素、咖啡酸、迷迭香酸和异戊酸。这些共色素通过共着色稳定或增强了天竺葵的颜色。研究结果为优化茶叶加工工艺和提高饮料生产质量控制提供了理论依据。

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来源期刊

Metabolites Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology-Molecular Biology

CiteScore

5.70

自引率

7.30%

发文量

1070

审稿时长

17.17 days

期刊介绍： Metabolites (ISSN 2218-1989) is an international, peer-reviewed open access journal of metabolism and metabolomics. Metabolites publishes original research articles and review articles in all molecular aspects of metabolism relevant to the fields of metabolomics, metabolic biochemistry, computational and systems biology, biotechnology and medicine, with a particular focus on the biological roles of metabolites and small molecule biomarkers. Metabolites encourages scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical results in as much detail as possible. Therefore, there is no restriction on article length. Sufficient experimental details must be provided to enable the results to be accurately reproduced. Electronic material representing additional figures, materials and methods explanation, or supporting results and evidence can be submitted with the main manuscript as supplementary material.