Aroma Chemistry of Tea — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

Aroma Chemistry of Tea

Name: Patrick Zaker
Major: Biology
Hometown: Aurora
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research

Name: Sean Hughes
Major: Biology
Hometown: Burbank
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research

Name: Grace Massat
Major: Biology
Hometown: Crystal Lake
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research

Abstract

The complex volatile chemical composition of Camellia sinensis acquired during processing into categories such as white tea, green tea, oolong tea, and black tea contributes to their distinct aroma and flavor profiles. There is a gap in understanding about what compounds might be responsible for these flavors and aromas. This project aims to correlate the reported aromas of tea with their predominating volatiles’ associated scent. Solid phase microextraction was employed to acquire samples from the vapor of brewed tea. Volatiles were identified via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Multiple compounds have been found consistently across oolong teas that correlate with specific aromas. Future directions include developing an internal standard method using alpha pinene and expanding our analysis to white, green and black teas, thereby expanding the knowledge of tea aromatics.

Poster file