Impact of utilization of oxygen scavenger on aroma quality of Longjing tea during storage at elevated temperature

The fresh aroma of Longjing tea is vulnerable to unfavorable storage conditions. However, limited research has addressed effective solutions apart from low-temperature storage. This study aimed to investigate the impact of oxygen scavenger on aroma quality of packaged Longjing tea samples at elevated storage temperatures. As a result, the utilization of oxygen scavenger could effectively mitigate aroma deterioration of Longjing tea caused by elevated temperature during storage, resulting in a decrease in the stale odor scores by more than 3.0. The utilization of oxygen scavenger achieved aroma-preserving effect by inhibiting the accumulation of key stale odor compounds and maintaining the levels of volatiles related to freshness aroma. The key volatile contributors to stale odor are primarily ketones and alcohols resulting from thermal carotenoids degradation/lipid oxidation, which exhibit woody or fatty odors. These findings provide essential theoretical principles for improving Longjing tea preservation technology. • Oxygen scavenger mitigate aroma deterioration of Longjing tea during storage. • 29 volatiles responding to oxygen scavenger at elevated storage temperatures. • ketones and alcohols induced by storage temperature contributed to stale odor. • Oxygen scavenger inhibited increase of stale odors stored at elevated temperature. • Alkenes, pyrroles and acids were indicators of Longjing tea aroma.