Food Research International 173 (2023) 113361

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Food Research International

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodres

Volatile fingerprinting, sensory characterization, and consumer acceptance

of pure and blended arabica coffee leaf teas
Juliana DePaula a, *, Sara C. Cunha b, Isabel M.P.L.V.O. Ferreira b, Ana Carolina V. Porto a,
Adriano G. Cruz c, Mateus Petrarca b, Maria Tereza Trevisan d, Ildi Revi e, Adriana Farah a, *
a
Laboratório de Química e Bioatividade de Alimentos & Núcleo de Pesquisa em Café Professor Luiz Carlos Trugo - NuPeCafé, Instituto de Nutrição Josué de Castro,
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, ZC 21941-902, Brazil
b
LAQV/REQUIMTE, Laboratório de Bromatologia e Hidrologia, Departamento de Químicas, Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade do Porto, 4099-030 Porto,
Portugal
c
Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio de Janeiro, Departamento de Alimentos, 20270-021, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
d
Laboratório de Produtos Naturais e Biotecnologia – Departamento de Química, Universidade Federal do ZC 60.455-760 Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil
e
Purity Coffee – Greenville, South Carolina, USA

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Coffee leaves contain several bioactive compounds and have been traditionally consumed as a medicinal infusion
Coffea arabica in the East for centuries. Coffee production generates large amounts of leaves as by-products, which are often
Leaf wasted in most producing countries because of the low acceptability in the West. Nevertheless, processing and
Tea
blending coffee leaves may increase aroma and flavor complexity. This study evaluated the volatile and sensory
Infusions
Toasted maté
profiles and consumer acceptance of coffee leaf teas compared to two among the most consumed teas (black and
Volatile compounds maté teas) in Rio de Janeiro. Infusions were made with one experimental and one commercial coffee leaf tea
Sensorial (CLT), two black teas (BT), and one toasted maté tea (TMT) for volatile (GC–MS/MS) and sensory profiles. As an
attempt to improve coffee leaf tea acceptance, CLT were also blended (50%) with BT or TMT. Acceptance, Check
All That Apply (CATA), and Projective Mapping sensory tests were performed with untrained assessors aged
18–49 (n = 100). Volatile data were standardized by centering and normalization. Sensory data were treated by
ANOVA/Fisher test, PCA, and AHCMFA, considering differences at p < 0.05. Ninety-two volatile compounds
distributed in 12 classes were identified in different samples. CLT, BT, and TMT infusions shared 19 compounds,
including 9 potential impact compounds for aroma and flavor: α-ionone, β-ionone, hexanal, nonanal, decanal,
benzaldehyde, trans-linalool oxide, linalool, and dihydroactinidiolide. The most cited flavor attributes for CLT
infusions were herbs/green leaf, woody and refreshing. For TMT and BT, herbs/green leaf, woody, burnt, and
fermented were the most cited. These attributes agreed with the volatile profiles. CLT shared 22 compounds with
TMT and 28 with BT. Considering pure infusions, TMT presented the highest mean acceptance scores (6.7),
followed by Com. and Exp. CLT (6.1 and 5.8, on a 9-point-hedonic scale, respectively). Blending with TMT
increased mean acceptance of Exp. CLT (6.4), while blending with BT, downgraded the mean acceptance of Com.
CLT (5.3). In Projective Mapping, CLT was considered to have a higher sensory resemblance with TMT than BT. If
produced adequately, CLT was shown to have good market potential to support sustainable coffee production
and promote health.

1. Introduction beverages (Friedman, 2007; Euromonitor, 2017; Statista, 2022). It has

been estimated that nearly three billion cups of tea are consumed daily
Herbal and stimulant teas are among the most popular beverages in around the world (IISD, 2019), and consumption is expected to grow in
the world, with a long history of use as medicinal and functional the next decade (FAO, 2022). Brazil follows the global trend, with a 54%

* Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: julianadepaula@nutricao.ufrj.br (J. DePaula), sara.cunha@ff.up.pt (S.C. Cunha), isabel.ferreira@ff.up.pt (I.M.P.L.V.O. Ferreira), ana_fobemo@
hotmail.com (A.C.V. Porto), adriano.cruz@ifrj.edu.br (A. G. Cruz), petrarcamh@gmail.com (M. Petrarca), mariattre@hotmail.com (M. Tereza Trevisan), ildi@
puritycoffee.com (I. Revi), afarah@nutricao.ufrj.br (A. Farah).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2023.113361
Received 23 June 2023; Received in revised form 4 August 2023; Accepted 5 August 2023
Available online 7 August 2023
0963-9969/© 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J. DePaula et al.
increase in daily per capita consumption in the last decade (IBGE, 2020).
The increased awareness and concern for health, as well as positive
changes in the sensory attributes of appearance, taste, and aroma, and
even in packaging, may explain this trend in Brazil and globally (FAO,
2022; Euromonitor, 2022a-b).
Since the early 19th century, the consumption of green coffee leaf tea
as an “ethnomedicinal” infusion is traditional in countries where coffee
grows naturally, like Indonesia, Yemen, and Ethiopia, for the treatment
of intestinal disorders, AIDS complications, and tuberculosis (Patay
et al., 2015; Campa and Petitvallet, 2018; Chen, 2018; Trevisan et al.,
2019). Like the coffee seeds, because of bioactive compounds, including
phenolics, caffeine, and trigonelline, among others (DePaula and
Farah, 2022), these leaves are reported to exert important in vitro anti­
oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, which are mostly responsible
for their medicinal properties. Despite the lower production cost, given
that coffee leaf tea is a by-product, consumption is not usual in most
coffee producing countries in the West because of its strong “green”
taste. However, since the last decade, Coffea arabica leaf processed
similar to black or oolong tea has been marketed in Canada and the
United States as a low caffeine alternative to highly caffeinated bever­
ages (Chen, 2018). The slow drying process at controlled temperatures
allows the development of different nuances of aroma and flavor, just
like with the Camelia sinensis teas through oxidation and fermentation,
which generally increases acceptance (Bonnely et al., 2003; Kang et al.,
2019). In the European Union, only in 2020 coffee leaf tea was approved
as a safe food (EFSA, 2020), and the chemical and sensory character­
ization data is still scarce (Chen et al., 2018; de Almeida et al., 2019;
Steger et al., 2022; Mei et al., 2023). To date, there are only two reports
on coffee leaf volatile profiles and no systematic sensory characteriza­
tion of the infusions by consumers.
Brazil is the largest coffee producer in the world, accounting for 47%
of total C. arabica production (ICO, 2022). Certified organic coffee
produced with sustainable practices represents almost 8% of all national
production (ACOB, 2019). As the productivity of regular and organic
coffee beans increases in Brazil and other countries, so does the pro­
duction of waste, including the leaves. Fast and efficient methods for
harvesting coffee fruits on a large scale, such as mechanical harvesters
and especially stripers, select the fruits and dispense the leaves, which
are returned to the soil (Trevisan et al., 2019). It was estimated in the
last decade that 3.3 tons of leaves per hectare were discarded during
coffee harvest in Brazil (Matiello et al., 2010). Leaf loss is lower during
manual harvesting, although it still exists. Leaves are also discarded
during coffee tree pruning worldwide (Klingel et al., 2020). If inappro­
priately discarded, this sheer mass of waste causes environmental
problems, such as unfavorable alteration of the microbiota and soil
conditions due to the antimicrobial effect of the bioactive compounds
and the arrival of solid waste in rivers and underground waters (Beyene
et al., 2012; Awoke et al., 2016), when it could be used for human
Table 1
Tea samples used in the study.
Pure tea samples
Code Description Tea material
Exp. Experimental coffee The third pair of manually harvested leaves from six trees of C. arabica cv.
CLT leaf tea Mundo Novo, processed similarly to black tea
Com. Commercial coffee Leading commercial C. arabica leaf tea in the West,
CLT leaf tea harvested and processed in Matagalpa, Nicaragua
TMT Toasted maté tea Leading brands in Brazil, purchased in sachets in a local food market. Tea
TBT Traditional black tea material was prepared as bulk
GBT Gourmet black tea
2
Food Research International 173 (2023) 113361
consumption. In Brazil, to date, there are only about two brands of
C. arabica leaf tea commercially available, mainly focused on the export
market, and their aroma and taste can still be improved. Although the
country grows a large variety of plants for coffee bean production,
Brazilian farmers and consumers are mostly unaware of the leaf’s po­
tential for tea production and value addition to coffee growing. Like­
wise, the acceptance and market potential by Brazilian consumers are
still unknown.
Considering all the aforementioned aspects, this study aimed to
evaluate the volatile and sensory profiles and consuming acceptance of
coffee leaf teas compared to two among the most consumed teas (black
and toasted maté teas) in Rio de Janeiro. Blends were also tested as an
attempt to improve coffee leaf tea acceptance. Sensory data were asso­
ciated with the volatile profile and physicochemical results.
2. Material and methods
2.1. Samples
All pure tea samples were obtained by collecting multiple sample
units and combining them to form a composite sample of each pure tea.
Those composite samples were analyzed for volatile/sensory profiles
and consumer acceptance. They were also used to prepare blended teas.
Samples description and codes are summarized in Table 1. Pure tea
samples included: experimental coffee leaf tea (Exp. CLT), processed by
an adaptation of a method for black tea processing (cleaning, macera­
tion, oxidation/fermentation at controlled conditions – about 26 ◦ C, for
seven days in a naturally ventilated bed, followed by natural drying in
the sun) (Zheng et al., 2016), in Bom Sucesso, Minas Gerais, located at
latitude 21◦ 01′58 South and longitude 44◦ 45′28 West, 952 m of altitude,
tropical altitude climate, characterized by mild temperatures
throughout the year; commercial coffee leaf teas (Com. CLT), purchased
(in bulk) via the internet for comparison with the experimentally pro­
cessed leaves; toasted maté tea (TMT); traditional black tea (TBT) and
gourmet black tea (GBT). The selected samples were leading brands in
Brazil (Lima and Farah, 2019) and were purchased in sachets in different
local food markets. For standardization, in order to obtain a composite
sample, teas were removed from the sachet material and prepared as
bulk. Therefore, only technical replicates were prepared. Four blended
teas were prepared based on preliminary sensory tests: blend of exper­
imental coffee leaf tea (50%) and toasted maté tea (50%) (Exp. CLT +
TMT); blend of commercial coffee leaf tea (50%) and toasted maté tea
(50%) (Com. CLT + TMT); blend of experimental coffee leaf tea (50%)
and traditional black tea (50%) (Exp. CLT + TBT); blend of commercial
coffee leaf tea (50%) and traditional black tea (50%) (Com. CLT + TBT).
All bulk tea samples were ground to pass through a 500 µm sieve for
physicochemical analyses before sensory tests.
Blended tea samples
Code Description
Exp. CLT + Blend of experimental coffee leaf tea (50%) and
TMT toasted maté tea (50%)
Blend of experimental coffee leaf tea (50%) and
Exp. CLT + traditional black tea
TBT (50%)
Com. CLT + Blend of commercial coffee leaf tea (50%) and
TMT toasted maté tea (50%)
Com. CLT + Blend of commercial coffee leaf tea (50%) and
TBT traditional black tea (50%)
J. DePaula et al.
2.2. Infusion’s preparation
Infusions (n = 9) were prepared following the sanitary safety re­
quirements of the Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA, 2004)
and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the US (FAO)/World
Health Organization (FAO, 1997). After preliminary sensory tests to
adjust the amount of leaf tea and water, 1 L of 90 ◦ C spring water (pH
5.8; bicarbonate: 7.53 mg/L; potassium: 1,669 mg/L; sodium: 1,212
mg/L; nitrate: 4.53 mg/L; chloride: 0.58 mg/L; calcium: 1,402 mg/L;
magnesium: 0.585 mg/L; barium: 0.065 mg/L; sulfate: 0.06 mg/L;
fluoride: 0.04 mg/L) was poured over 10 g of leaf tea and left to steep for
5 min before removing the leaves with a traditional sieve for the prep­
aration of infusions. After collecting samples for physicochemical ana­
lyses, the remaining amount was placed in thermoses for sensory
analyses.
2.3. Analyses of volatile organic compounds
Extraction of the volatile organic compounds from infusions was
performed in duplicate by HS-SPME, using a 50/30 μm divi-nylbenzene/
carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane fiber (DVB/CAR/PDMS, Supelco®),
and analyzed by a gas chromatographer (Agilent, 6890 Little Falls, DE,
USA) coupled to a mass spectrometer (Agilent 5975) (GC–MS), accord­
ing to the methodology described by Wang et al. (2019). Before use, the
fiber was conditioned according to the manufacturer’s recommenda­
tions. Immediately after infusion preparation, 2 mL of each sample were
placed in a 20 mL SPME vial, which was sealed with silicone septa and
conditioned for 5 min at 50 ◦ C under continuous stirring. Then, the fiber
was exposed to the vial headspace for 30 min, in agitation, and heated at
50 ◦ C. After this period, the fiber was retracted, and inserted into the
chromatographic injector, in splitless mode, for 2 min, for desorption of
volatile compounds, with the aid of a carrier gas (helium) and trans­
ferred directly into the chromatographic column (SPB-5, 60 m × 0.32
mm, film thickness df = 1 μm 5% diphenyl – 95% dimethyl polysiloxane,
Supelco, Bellefonte, USA) at 1 mL min/ for 10 min, 250 ◦ C. The chro­
matographic separation conditions were: 40 ◦ C for 3 min, ramped to
200 ◦ C at 5 ◦ C/ min, subsequently ramped to 250 ◦ C at 10 ◦ C/min, and
held at final temperature for 3 min. The transfer line, ion source, and MS
quadrupole temperature were 250, 230, and 150 ◦ C, respectively.
Electron impact mass spectra were measured at the acceleration energy
of 70 eV. Data acquisition was performed in full-scan mode from m/z 50
to 550. Analytes were tentatively identified by the linear retention
indices (LRI) and confirmed by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (Chemdata NIST V2.2, Gaithersburg, MD, USA) library
database. Agilent Chem Station (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA,
USA) was used for data collection and processing. In addition, high
purity external standards, when available, were injected. The LRI of
each compound was calculated using the respective retention time (RT)
compared against the RT of a series of standard n-alkanes. The com­
pounds were identified based on their LRI, the mass spectra of the NIST
library, or authentic standards (β-myrcene, linalool, α-terpineol, furfuryl
acetate, 5-methylfurfural, pentanal, hexanal and nonanal, all with >
97% purity, from Sigma-Aldrich, Germany) measured under the same
conditions. To identify the compounds, substances with a probability
greater than 50% were selected. To improve the accuracy of compounds’
identification, only those substances that provided a match factor higher
than 600 and a match factor versus reversed match factor ratio greater
than 0.8 were selected for data processing (Galvan-Lima et al., 2021;
DePaula et al., 2022). LRI available from previous publications were also
used for comparison.
2.4. Physicochemical analyses
A portable colorimeter (Konica Minolta, CR-410, Tokyo, Japan) was
used to determine the instrumental color of the infusions by the CIE
L*a*b method (International Commission on Illumination, 1976).
3
Food Research International 173 (2023) 113361
Soluble solids were determined in the infusions using the Atago® digital
refractometer (model PAL-1, Tokyo, Japan), and results were expressed
in ◦ Brix. pH was evaluated using a pH meter (Macherey-Nagel®, Düren,
Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany); titratable acidity was determined by
titration with 0.1 N NaOH, using phenolphthalein as an indicator, ac­
cording to Adolfo Lutz Institute (2008). Results were expressed in mEq
NaOH/L of infusion. Analyses were performed in triplicate.
2.5. Sensory profile and hedonic tests
Sensory tests were approved (approval protocol #3.722.455) by the
Research Ethics Committee of Clementino Fraga Filho University Hos­
pital. Sensory profile by Check All That Apply (CATA) test associated
with Acceptance and Purchase Intention tests were performed in the
infusions prepared with all 5 pure and 4 blended samples. Projective
Mapping was also performed at the end of the sensory session to group
similar samples.
One hundred regular tea consumers took part in all tests. They were
students, teachers, visitors, and employees at the Federal University of
Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) Health Sciences and Technology Centers and
lived in different areas of Rio de Janeiro. After being informed of the
procedures and expressing their agreement, they signed the Informed
Consent Form. Assessors performed the tests on separate benches in the
UFRJ Food and Dietetics Lab under white light. Before receiving the
samples, demographic information was collected, including gender, age,
educational level, occupation, family monthly income, frequency, and
habits of infusion consumption. 30 mL of each infusion were presented
simultaneously in 50 mL polypropylene plastic cups, coded with three-
digit random numbers, and distributed in a balanced way to avoid the
consistent influence of neighboring samples on the sensory sensations.
After preparation (section 2.3), infusions were kept in thermoses to
ensure a temperature of 68 ± 2 ◦ C (ASTM, 1973; Loomis et al., 2016;
Adhikari et al., 2019) in the sensory tests and were replaced when
necessary. Assessors were instructed to drink the infusions with or
without sweeteners as they habitually did. They could use table sugar or
artificial sweetener (saccharin or aspartame). They were advised (and
monitored) to use the same type and amount of sweetener in all samples.
Crackers and mineral water at room temperature were offered between
samples to clean the palate (Meilgaard et al., 2007; 2016).
2.5.1. Check All That Apply (CATA) and Projective Mapping tests
CATA and Projective Mapping were done on the same occasion as the
hedonic tests. In the CATA test, assessors were given a pre-prepared
checklist with sensory attributes related to appearance, aroma, flavor,
taste, and mouthfeel, which were identified in the preliminary session
performed by the trained panel from UFRJ. The sensory panel consisted
of eight trained assessors (aged 28–58) with a minimum of 200 h of
experience in evaluating different food products and 30 h of experience
in evaluating leaf tea or infusions. In order to generate sensory de­
scriptors, six samples of leaf teas, differing in their sensory character­
istics, were presented to assessors. First, assessors were asked to
generate their individual descriptors using a modified grid method
(Damasio and Costell, 1991). Through open discussion with the panel
leader, assessors agreed on the best descriptors to fully describe the
samples, their definitions, and how to evaluate those (Ares et al., 2010).
The descriptors or attributes were organized by alphabetical order as
follows: acidic, astringent, bitter, bodied, burnt, citric, dark brown,
fermented, fruity, floral, greenish, herbal/green leaf, light brown, me­
dicinal, orange brown reddish brown, refreshing, sweet, toasted leaf,
watery, woody. . Assessors were requested to select all appropriate terms
to describe the infusions. For Projective Mapping, assessors projected
the samples on a blank sheet of rectangular A4 paper (210 × 297 mm),
according to similarity and dissimilarity, grouping similar samples and
spreading out different samples (Kim et al., 2019).
J. DePaula et al. Food Research International 173 (2023) 113361

Table 2
Visual appearance, instrumental color, soluble solids, pH, and titratable acidity of leaf tea infusions.
Instrumental color

Leaf tea infusions L* a* b* SS (◦ Brix) pH TA

(mEq NaOH/L)

84.73 ± 0.17a − 4.88 ± 0.06e 14.16 ± 0.71f 0.2 ± 0.0c 5.5 ± 0.0c 0.08 ± 0.003b

85.34 ± 0.04a − 4.91 ± 0.02e 13.79 ± 0.15f 0.2 ± 0.0c 5.5 ± 0.1c 0.08 ± 0.002b

77.96 ± 0.51c +17.20 ± 0.28a 33.84 ± 0.61c 0.4 ± 0.0a 5.2 ± 0.1d 0.10 ± 0.004ab

74.71 ± 0.31d +17.62 ± 0.04a 40.76 ± 0.87a 0.4 ± 0.0a 5.0 ± 0.1e 0.11 ± 0.000a

74.58 ± 0.22d +9.91 ± 0.12c 37.56 ± 0.21b 0.3 ± 0.0b 6.1 ± 0.0a 0.04 ± 0.000e

80.21 ± 0.42b +7.47 ± 0.10d 28.78 ± 1.14e 0.2 ± 0.0c 5.7 ± 0.0b 0.06 ± 0.000c

80.46 ± 0.36b +7.56 ± 0.07d 27.11 ± 0.87e 0.2 ± 0.0 5.3 ± 0.1d 0.06 ± 0.001c

80.72 ± 0.18b +10.23 ± 0.03b 30.27 ± 0.54d 0.3 ± 0.0b 5.8 ± 0.0b 0.05 ± 0.001d

81.13 ± 0.29b +10.79 ± 0.02b 30.27 ± 0.54d 0.3 ± 0.0b 5.4 ± 0.1c 0.07 ± 0.000c

Notes: Exp. CLT – Experimental coffee leaf tea; Com. CLT – Commercial coffee leaf tea; TBT – Traditional black tea; GBT – Gourmet black tea; TMT – Toasted maté tea;
Exp. CLT + TMT – Blend of experimental coffee leaf tea (50%) and toasted maté tea (50%); Com. CLT + TMT - Blend of commercial coffee leaf tea (50%) and toasted
maté tea (50%); Exp. CLT + TBT - Blend of experimental coffee leaf tea (50%) and traditional black tea (50%); Com. CLT + TBT - Blend of commercial coffee leaf tea
(50%) and traditional black tea (50%). In the columns the different letters indicate significant differences (p < 0.05) by one-way ANOVA and Tukey test.

2.5.2. Consumer acceptance and purchase intent tests
Assessors evaluated the infusions using the nine-point hedonic scale
ranging from 1 (extremely disliked) to 9 (extremely liked), followed by a
five-point hedonic scale ranging from 1 (certainly would not buy) to 5
(certainly would buy). The Acceptability Index (AI) was calculated using
the following equation: AI = (X * 100)/N, where: X = Average
score given by assessors and N = Highest score given by assessors. AI
equal to or greater than 70% was considered satisfactory (Meilgaard
et al., 2007).
2.6. Statistical analysis
Data from physicochemical analyses are presented as mean ± stan­
dard deviation. One-way ANOVA, followed by the Tukey test at a 5%
significance level, was performed to identify significant differences. For
volatile compounds data analysis, Principal Component Analyses (PCA)
and Cluster Analyses (CA) were performed using the free software R (R
version 4.2.2, RStudio team, 2022). PCA biplots were carried out using
the “factoextra”, “FactoMineR” and “ggrepel” packages, while “dplyr”
and “readxl” packages were used for Cluster analyses by k-means. These
packages provide a platform to visualize multivariate statistical treat­
ment of volatile data. Data pretreatment concerning relative peak areas
for all volatile compounds identified included standardization by
centering and normalization, which is required since volatile data pre­
sent wide scale differences.
Data from sensory tests were analyzed using XLSAT for Windows
(Version 2022.3, Boston, MA, USA). ANOVA was used for acceptance
and purchase intention tests, with two sources of variance and a distri­
bution histogram. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to
evaluate the relationship between the sensory data and the volatile
compounds. The mean overall liking scores and the quantitative analysis
of each organic function detected on the volatile profiling were
considered supplementary variables. A 95% confidence ellipse was
generated by virtual panels using Bootstrap techniques.
The consumer data linear mixed-effects models were performed for
overall liking and sensory attribute frequencies to examine if there were
significant differences across the samples, with the sample as a fixed
effect and the assessor as a random effect. Tukey’s HSD test was used for
post-hoc pairwise comparisons of the sample mean. Finally, the Pro­
jective Mapping data were analyzed using multiple factor analysis
(MFA). The X and Y coordinates of each sample on the sheet of each
assessor were determined, considering the left bottom corner of the
sheet as the origin of coordinates. MFA was performed considering the
coordinates of each assessor as a separate group of variables
(Pages, 2005).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Physicochemical analyses
Table 2 contains the visual appearance, instrumental color, soluble
solids, pH, and titratable acidity data of the leaf infusions evaluated in
this study.
L* represents the lightness measured as brightness, with 100 and

4
J. DePaula et al. Food Research International 173 (2023) 113361

Table 3
Volatile compounds identified in coffee leaf, black tea and toasted maté infusions, and their classical odor description.
Volatile compounds Odor description CAS# ELRI LRI Exp. Com. TBT GBT TMT
CLT CLT

Ketones
2,3-Butanedione Sweet, creamy, buttery, pungent, caramellic1,2 431-03-8 948 961 □ □ □ □ ■b
Acetophenone Sweet, musty, floral, nutty, marzipan, coumarinic, vanilla1,2 98-86-2 841 899 ■b □ □ □ □
Benzophenone Balsamic, herbal, rose, metallic, geranium2 119-61-9 623 696 ■b □ □ □ ■ab
Butylacetone Fruity, spicy, sweet, herbal, coconut, woody, creamy, banana1,2 110-43-0 889 931 □ □ □ ■ab □
3,5-Octadien-2-one Fruity, fatty, mushroom2 38284- 880 880 ■ab □ □ □ □
27-4
3,5-Octadien-2-one, (E,E)- Fruity, green, grassy2 30086- 880 880 □ □ □ ■ab ■ab
02-3
α-Ionone* Sweet, woody, floral, violet, orris, tropical fruity1,2 127-41-3 896 923 ■ab ■ab □ ■ab ■b
β-Ionone* Seaweed, woody, floral, violet, raspberry, tropical, beeswax1,2 14901- 834 848 ■ab ■ab ■ab ■ab ■ab
07-6
Geranyl acetone Magnolia, rose, leafy, fresh, fruity, waxy, woody, tropical1,2 689-67-8 776 821 ■ab ■ab ■b ■b ■b
Isophorone Woody, sweet, green, camphor, fruity, musty, tobacco, leather2 78-59-1 771 771 ■b ■b ■ab ■ab ■ab
β-Damascenone* Apple, rose, honey, tobacco, sweet1,2 23726- 773 794 □ ■ab ■ab ■ab ■ab
93-4
2-Octanone Woody, herbal2 111-13-7 842 842 □ □ □ □ ■b
Phthalolactone Sweet, tonka, coumarinic, coconut, phenolic, lactonic2 87-41-2 851 887 □ □ □ □ ■ab
Ketoisophorone Musty, woody, sweet, tea, citric, lemon, brown, leafy2 1125-21- 802 823 ■ab □ □ □ ■ab
9
Carvone Minty, licorice1,2 99-49-0 756 756 □ □ □ ■ab □
Prenylacetone Citric, green, musty, lemongrass, apple1,2 110-93-0 917 929 □ □ □ ■ab □
Methyl heptadienone Spicy, cinnamon, coconut, woody, sweet, cooling, herbal2 1604-28- 739 763 □ □ □ ■ab □
0
β-iso-Methyl ionone Woody, ambergris, waxy, orris, floral2 79-89-0 606 632 ■b □ □ □ □
β-Methylionone Fresh, sweet, violet, berry, woody2 79-70-9 580 610 □ □ ■ab ■b □
3-Octen-2-one Earthy, spicy, herbal, sweet, mushroom, hay, blueberry1,2 1669-44- 697 750 □ □ □ ■ab □
9
Cistus cyclohexanone Pungent, thujonic, labdanum, honey, cistus2 2408-37- 729 729 ■ab ■ab ■ab ■ab ■ab
9
Cryptone Spicy, cumin, caraway, woody, herbal2 500-02-7 671 671 □ ■b □ □ □
Megastigmatrienone Sweet, nutty, skin, tobacco, spicy2 38818- 815 822 □ □ □ □ ■ab
55-2
Hexahydrofarnesyl acetone Oily, herbal, jasmin, celery, woody2 68607- 778 778 □ □ □ ■ab □
88-5
2 b
Dihydro-β-ionone Earthy, woody, mahogany, orris, dry amber 17283- 768 768 □ □ ■ □ ■b
81-7
Aldehydes
2-Butenal Floral2 4170-30- 845 845 ■b □ □ □ □
3
Pentanal Fermented, bready, fruity, berry, nutty, malt, pungent1,2 110-62-3 921 921 □ □ □ ■abc □
Hexanal* Grass, fresh, leaf, aldehydic, fruity, fatty, tallow1,2 66-25-1 967 967 ■abc ■abc ■abc ■abc ■abc
2-Hexenal, (E)- Sharp, fresh, leafy, herbal, spicy1,2 6728-26- 943 945 ■b ■b ■b ■b ■b
3
Heptanal* Fatty, rancid, citric, fresh, aldehydic, herbal, wine-lee1,2 111-71-7 829 855 □ □ □ ■ab □
2-Heptenal, (E)- Pungent, green, vegetable, fresh, fruity, fatty2 18829- 773 804 □ □ □ □ ■b
55-5
2,4-Hexadienal, (E,E)- Sweet, green, spicy, floral, citric, fruity, aldehydic, waxy1,2 142-83-6 785 806 □ □ □ ■b □
2,4-Heptadienal, (E,E)- Fried, nut, fatty, green, pungent, fruity, spicy1,2 5910-85- 816 821 □ □ □ ■ab ■ab
0
Octanal* Citric, lemon, orange, herbal, fresh, aldehydic, soap1,2 124-13-0 790 816 ■ab □ □ □ □
Nonanal* Citric, fresh, orange, green, rose, aldehydic, fatty1,2 124-19-6 873 882 ■abc ■abc ■abc ■abc ■abc
Decanal* Sweet, citric, floral, soap, orange peel, aldehydic 1,2 112-31-2 944 944 ■ab ■ab ■ab □ ■ab
Benzaldehyde* Almond, burnt sugar, fruity, cherry, sweet1,2 100-52-7 930 947 ■ab ■ab ■ab ■ab ■ab

Aldehydes
Benzeneacetaldehyde Honey, floral, sweet, fermented, chocolate, earthy, green1,2 122-78-1 904 961 ■ab ■ab ■ab ■ab ■a
Isobutyraldehyde Pungent, malt, green, fresh, aldehydic, floral1,2 78-84-2 922 922 ■ab □ ■ab ■ab □
Isovaleraldehyde Ethereal, aldehydic, chocolate, peach, fatty2 590-86-3 922 922 ■ab ■ab ■ab ■ab □
α-Methylbutanal Cocoa, coffee, nutty, malty, fermented, fatty, alcoholic1,2 96-17-3 884 884 ■ab ■ab ■ab ■ab □
Safranal Herbal, sweet, fresh, metallic, rosemary, tobacco, spicy1,2 116-26-7 760 834 □ ■ab ■ab □ ■b
β-Cyclocitral Saffron, green, rose, sweet, tobacco, damascene, fruity, mint1,2 432-25-7 843 850 □ ■ab □ ■ab ■b
2-Phenylbut-2-enal Sweet, beany, honey, cocoa, nutty, radish, musty, floral2 4411-89- 886 886 ■ab □ □ ■ab □
6
Alcohol
1-Penten-3-ol Ethereal, green, radish, chrysanthemum, vegetable, fruity2 616-25-1 908 908 □ □ □ ■b ■b
Sandal pentenol Sandalwood, woody, musk2 67801- 999 999 □ □ ■b □ □
20-1
(Z)-3-hexen-1-ol* Grass, fresh, foliage, vegetable, herbal, oily, melon, pungent1,2 928-96-1 942 942 □ ■b □ □ □
1-Hexanol Pungent, ethereal, fruity, alcoholic, sweet, floral, green1,2 111-27-3 917 917 □ ■b □ □ □
2-Heptanol Fresh, lemon, grass, herbal, sweet, floral, fruity2 6033-23- 785 799 □ ■b □ □ □
4
(continued on next page)

5
J. DePaula et al. Food Research International 173 (2023) 113361

Table 3 (continued )
Volatile compounds Odor description CAS# ELRI LRI Exp. Com. TBT GBT TMT
CLT CLT

3-Octenol* Mushroom, earthy, green, oily, fungal, raw chicken2 20125- 777 793 □ □ □ ■ab □
85-3
1-Methylcycloheptanol Vegetable2 3761-94- 764 805 ■b □ □ □ □
2
1,2 ab
Phenylethyl alcohol* Honey, spice, rose, lilac, floral, fresh, sweet, fresh 60-12-8 681 841 □ ■ □ □ □
2-Ethyl-1-hexanol Rose, green, citric, fresh, floral, oily, sweet1,2 104-76-7 957 957 ■b □ ■ab ■b ■b
DL-Menthol Peppermint, cooling, woody2 89-78-1 678 678 □ □ ■b □ □
4-Methylphenethyl alcohol Floral, balsamic, rose, green2 699-02-5 889 889 □ □ ■ab □ □
Monoterpenes
β-Myrcene* Balsamic, must, herbal, woody, spice, peppery, rose, carrot1,2 123-35-3 891 896 ■bc ■abc ■abc ■abc □
p-Cymene Fresh, citric, woody, terpenic, lemon, spicy, cumin, cilantro1,2 99-87-6 895 895 □ ■b □ □ □
β-Cymene Fresh, citric, terpenic, woody, spicy2 535-77-3 873 889 □ □ □ ■b □
D-Limonene* Citrus, orange, lemon, fresh, sweet1,2 5989-27- 927 927 ■ab ■b ■b ■b □
5
β-Ocimene Citrus, tropical, herbal, terpenic, woody, sweet1,2 13877- 784 784 □ □ □ ■b □
91-3
o-Xylene Geranium1,2 95-47-6 902 902 ■b □ □ □ □
Isoterpinolene Herbal, woody2 586-63-0 713 745 □ ■b □ ■b □
p-Mentha-1,5,8-triene Roasted, turpentine1,2 21195- 800 800 □ □ □ □ ■b
59-5
Eugenol Clove, honey, sweet, spicy, woody1,2 97-53-0 911 935 □ □ □ □ ■b
p-Menthone Minty1,2 89-80-5 867 867 □ □ ■ab □ □
Esters
Methyl salicylate Sweet, fresh, wintergreen, phenolic, camphoreous, peppermint1 119-36-8 871 951 ■ab ■ab ■ab ■ab ■ab
Ethyl acetate Pineapple, ethereal, fruity, sweet, weedy, grape, green1,2 141-78-6 964 964 ■ab □ □ □ □
Furfuryl acetate Sweet, fruity, banana, horseradish2 623-17-6 598 626 □ □ □ □ ■abc
Isopropyl laurate Faint2 10233- 606 606 □ □ ■ab ■ab ■ab
13-3
Isopropyl myristate Faint, oily, fatty2 110-27-0 656 681 □ □ ■ab ■ab ■ab
cis-β-Hexenyl formate Fresh, green, waxy, sweet, vegetable, grassy, sharp1,2 33467- 748 748 ■b □ □ ■b □
73-1
2-Methyl allyl butyrate Sweet, pineapple, apple, plum2 7149-29- 792 827 ■b □ □ □ ■b
3
β-Phenylethyl Green, horseradish, gooseberry, watercress2 2257-09- 826 872 □ □ ■ab □ □
isothiocyanate 2
(Z)-3-Hexenyl crotonate Green, vegetable2 65405- 827 827 □ □ ■b □ □
80-3
Monoterpenes alcohol
Linalool oxide Floral, woody, musty, camphor, fenchyl, herbal, alcohol1,2 60047- 940 942 □ □ ■b ■b ■b
17-8
trans-Linalool oxide* Floral1,2 34995- 795 916 □ ■b ■b ■b ■b
77-2
Linalool* Citric, floral, blueberry, lavender, bois de rose, sweet, green1,2 78-70-6 834 843 ■abc ■abc ■abc ■abc ■abc
cis-Linalool oxide Earthy, floral, sweet, woody1,2 5989-33- 876 876 ■b □ ■b ■ab □
3
Hotrienol Hyacinth, tropical1,2 53834- 895 905 □ □ □ ■ab □
70-1
1,2 bc
α-Terpineol* Oil, anise, mint, lemon, citric 98-55-5 862 862 □ □ □ ■ □
Furans
Furfural Bread, almond, sweet, brown, woody, caramellic1,2 98-01-1 959 959 □ □ □ □ ■ab
5-Methylfurfural Sweet, caramellic, bready, brown, coffee1,2 620-02-0 882 884 □ □ □ □ ■abc
2-Ethylfuran Chemical, beany, ethereal, cocoa, bready, malty, coffee nutty1,2 3208-16- 726 766 □ □ □ □ ■b
0
Dihydroactinidiolide* Musk, coumarin2 17092- 899 913 ■ab ■ab ■ab ■ab ■ab
92-1
Acids
Caproic acid Sweat, sour, fatty, cheesy2 142-62-1 799 818 □ □ □ ■b □
α-Methylvaleric acid Sour, cheesy2 97-61-0 800 800 □ □ □ ■ab □
Pyrroles
1-Furfurylpyrrole Vegetable, cereal, bready, radish, mushroom, potato, plastic, 1438-94- 859 859 □ □ □ □ ■ab
green, waxy, fruity, coffee1,2 4
1-Ethylpyrrole-2- Burnt, roasted, smoky1,2 2167-14- 817 820 □ □ □ ■b □
carbaldehyde 8
Heterocyclic aromatic organic compounds
Oxazole, 4,5-dimethyl-2- Roasted, burnt2 53833- 674 674 □ □ □ □ ■ab
propyl- 32-2
3-Methyl pyridine Green, earthy, hazelnut, nutty2 108-99-6 880 909 □ □ ■ab □ □
Pyrazins
2,6-Diethylpyrazine Nutty, hazelnut2 13067- 865 886 ■ ab
■ b
□ □ □
27-1
Norisoprenoid
Theaspirane Tea, herbal, wet, tobacco, leaf, metallic, woody, spicy2 36431- 784 884 ■ab □ □ □ □
72-8

Note: Exp. CLT – Experimental coffee leaf tea; Com. CLT – Commercial coffee leaf tea; TBT – Traditional black tea; GBT – Gourmet black tea; TMT – Toasted maté tea.
*Potential impact compounds according to Schieberle and Schuh, 2006; Araújo et al., 2007; Márquez et al., 2013; Magagna et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2019; Kang et al.,

6
J. DePaula et al.
2019; Yang et al., 2022; Steger et al., 2022; Mei et al., 20231,2. Odor description according to Flavornet and The Good Scents Company Information System; CAS#
(Chemical Abstracts Service) Registry Number, available in the NIST database; ELRI: Experimental Linear Retention Index; LRI: Linear Retention Index based on
literature and NIST database; aCompounds identified with probability more than 50%; bCompounds that provided a match factor higher than 600 and a match factor
versus reversed match factor ratio greater than 0.8. cCompounds identified by comparison with standards. ■ compound identified in the sample; □ compound not
identified in the sample.
0 values corresponding to absolute white and black, respectively
(Xu et al., 2017). The L* values of infusions varied from 74.58 to 85.34.
a* and b* are responsible for chromaticity (+a* red and -a* green, +b*
yellow and -b* blue). a* values varied from − 4.88 to + 4.4. b* values
were positive in all samples, varying between 13.79 and 37.56.
In general, both CLTs presented higher L*, negative a* values, and
the lowest b* values, indicating that they were lighter, more greenish,
and had less shades of yellow. On the other hand, TMT and BTs pre­
sented lower L*, positive a* values, and the lowest b* values, indicating
that they were darker, more reddish, and had more shades of yellow,
developing more orange tones, as visually and numerically perceived in
Table 2.
Soluble solids values (range 0.2 – 0.4 ◦ Brix, using 1 g leaf/100 mL)
were higher in TBT and GBT (both black teas). These results are similar
to those previously reported for bulk black tea (0.5 ◦ Brix) (using 1.6 g
leaf/100 mL) (Lima and Farah, 2019).
In the present study, pH ranged from 5.0 to 6.1, and TA values from
0.04 to 0.11 mEq NaOH/L. GBT and TBT infusions had the lowest pH
values (5.0 and 5.2, respectively) and the highest TA values (0.10 and
0.11 mEq NaOH/L), showing the acidic characteristics of black tea. On
the other hand, TMT presented the highest pH value (6.1) and the lowest
TA value (0.04 mEq NaOH/L). CLTs showed intermediate acidity values
(Table 2).
3.2. Volatile organic compounds in coffee leaf, black tea, and toasted
maté infusions
Considering all infusions, 92 volatile organic compounds (corre­
sponding to 95% − 98% of the total peak areas of the chromatograms)
were accurately identified (Table 3). They were grouped into 12
chemical classes: 25 ketones, 19 aldehydes, 11 alcohols, 10 mono­
terpenes, 9 esters, 6 monoterpenes alcohols, 4 furans, 2 acids, 2 pyrroles,
2 heterocyclic organic compounds, 1 pyrazin, and 1 norisoprenoid
compound. Of the 92 compounds, CLTs, BTs, and TMT shared 19 com­
pounds, including 9 potential impact ones (meaning whose odor can be
perceived at very low concentrations), according to reports in the
literature obtained by GC-olfactometry and/or their aroma activity
values (AOV): α-ionone, β-ionone, hexanal, nonanal, decanal, benzal­
dehyde, trans-linalool oxide, linalool, dihydroactinidiolide (Schieberle
and Schuh, 2006; Márquez et al., 2013; Magagna et al., 2017; Wang
et al., 2019; Kang et al., 2019; Yang et al., 2022; Steger et al., 2022; Mei
et al., 2023) (Table 3). The remaining compounds were differently
distributed among samples. CLTs shared 22 compounds with TMT, from
which 10 were potential impact compounds (α-ionone, β-ionone,
β-damascenone, hexanal, nonanal, decanal, benzaldehyde, trans-linalool
oxide, linalool, dihydroactinidiolide) (Araújo et al., 2007; Márquez
et al., 2013; Steger et al., 2022; Mei et al., 2023) and 28 with BTs, being
12 potential impact compounds (α-ionone, β-ionone, β-damascenone,
hexanal, nonanal, decanal, benzaldehyde, β-myrcene, D-limonene,
trans-linalool oxide, linalool, dihydroactinidiolide) (Schieberle and
Schuh, 2006; Magagna et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2019; Kang et al., 2019;
Yang et al., 2022; Steger et al., 2022; Mei et al., 2023). Overall, the
common volatile compounds reflect their sensory resemblance.
Regarding CLT, 36 volatile compounds were identified in the Exp.
CLT and 30 in the Com. CLT infusions. Of these compounds, 17 were
identified only in Exp. CLT and 11 were identified only in Com. CLT,
with 18 being common to both samples. In BT, 35 volatile compounds
were identified in the TBT and 50 in the GBT, suggesting a more elab­
orated fermentation process, resulting in a complex aroma. Another
possible explanation is that the leaves of the TBT could have been
7
Food Research International 173 (2023) 113361
diluted with other less aromatic parts of the plant to low the production
cost (Lima and Farah, 2019). In TMT infusion, 42 compounds were
identified.
Ketones, aldehydes, alcohols, and monoterpenes were the classes of
volatile compounds predominant in all infusions regarding the number
of compounds. These results agree with previous studies that reported
ketones, aldehydes, and alcohols as predominant volatiles in black tea
(Magagna et al., 2017; Kang et al., 2019), in toasted maté infusions
(Araújo et al., 2007; Márquez et al., 2013) and in coffee leaf teas (Steger
et al., 2022; Mei et al., 2023). Table 3 contains the volatile compounds
identified in the pure infusions, grouped by chemical classes.
Although the area does not directly reflect the concentration of the
compound, it is a good indication of its quantitative importance.
Considering the five pure samples, ketones comprised 5.4% – 17.7% of
the total peak area of the volatile fraction of the different leaf infusions,
with the highest percentage found in infusions from Exp. CLT, TBT, and
GBT. Because of their relatively low odor thresholds, these compounds
are thought to play an essential role in Pu-erh tea aroma (Lv et al., 2014;
Wang et al., 2022). Furthermore, almost each of them emits unique
odors (Wang et al., 2020). Ketones generally contribute sweet, fruity,
rose, and honey notes (Table 3). Geranyl acetone, cistus cyclohexanone,
γ-nonalactone and β-ionone were identified in all infusions. β-ionone has
been listed as one of the main aroma-active compounds in toasted maté
leaf (Márquez et al., 2013) and in a coffee leaf tea from El Salvador
(Steger et al., 2022). The same authors also reported 3,5-octadien-2-one
as a key odorant in coffee leaf tea. In the present study, this compound
was only identified in the Exp. CLT, possibly given differences in pro­
cessing. β-damascenone, on the other hand, was identified in all in­
fusions except in the Exp. CLT. This compound has been reported as a
key aroma compound in black tea (Schieberle and Schuh, 2006) and
toasted maté leaf (Márquez et al., 2013). Carvone, a critical contributor
to the Pu-erh tea aroma (Wang et al., 2022), was identified only in GBT
infusion. Compounds such as acetophenone, 3,5-octadien-2-one, β-iso-
methyl ionone, and cryptone were detected only in CLT infusions,
contributing sweet, musty, floral, woody, spicy, and herbal notes
(Table 3).
Aldehydes represented about 24.8%–46.7% of the total peak areas,
with higher percentages in the infusions from Exp. CLT and TBT. Al­
dehydes contribute remarkably to citrus, fruity, floral, fresh, and her­
baceous notes (Table 3). Hexanal, 2-hexenal, (E)-, nonanal,
benzaldehyde, and benzeneacetaldehyde were identified in all infusions.
Hexanal, nonanal, and benzaldehyde have been listed as key aroma and
flavor compounds in black tea (Magagna et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2019;
Kang et al., 2019; Yang et al., 2022). Safranal, identified in Com. CLT,
TBT, and TMT infusions is suggested to be a key odorant in Pu-erh tea
(Wang et al., 2022). Although octanal has also been listed as one of the
main aroma-active compounds responsible for the unique aroma of
toasted maté leaf (Márquez et al., 2013), in the present study, this
compound was only identified in the Exp. CLT infusion. 2,4-Heptadie­
nal, a marker volatile compound in green maté (Araújo et al., 2017),
also identified in toasted maté (Machado et al., 2007), was detected in
GBT and TMT infusions. The formation of this volatile compound is
favored by some steps in maté processing, such as scorching and drying,
where the material is submitted to heat treatment (Márquez et al.,
2013). Compounds such as 2-butenal and octanal were detected only in
CLT infusions and contributed to floral, citrus, herbal, and fresh notes
(Table 3). Because of their high chemical reactivity, the concentration of
aldehydes is significantly altered during thermal processing (Schwab
et al., 2008); therefore, boiling these teas is probably not recommended.
Alcohols accounted for 2.5%–15.3% of the total peak area of the
J. DePaula et al.
volatile fraction of different infusions, with higher percentages in Com.
CLT and TMT. No alcohol was common to all samples. (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol,
1-hexanol, 2-heptanol, 1-methylcycloheptanol, and phenylethyl alcohol
were detected only in CLTs. 3-Octenol has been listed as a key aroma and
flavor compound in black tea (Magagna et al., 2017; Kang et al., 2019).
Although phenylethyl alcohol and (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol have been reported
as key aroma compounds in black tea (Schieberle and Schuh, 2006;
Magagna et al., 2017; Kang et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2019), in the
present study, these compounds were only identified in Com. CLT
infusion. Alcohols, in general, contribute to honey, floral, fresh, rose,
citrus, and alcohol notes (Table 3).
Esters comprised 7.4%–23.3% of the total peak area of the chro­
matograms. The highest percentages of esters were observed in the Com.
CLT infusion. These compounds are essential volatile components in
many fruits, and most of them have a strong fruity and floral odor
(Table 3), contributing to a “mature” flavor (Rouseff and Perez-Cacho,
2007). Methyl salicylate was identified in all infusions. It has also
been identified in Pu-erh tea (Wang et al., 2022) and oolong tea (Zhang
et al., 2022). Previously identified in toasted maté (Machado et al.,
2007), methyl salycilate was reported as an important component for
the overall tea aroma formation (Lv et al., 2014). Ethyl acetate, identi­
fied only in the Exp. CLT, imparted apple and banana traits (Kong et al.,
2022).
Monoterpenes comprised 2.3%–5.0% of the total peak area of the
chromatograms. Although these compounds are characterized by poor
aroma, they still impart sweet, citrus, fruity, woody, and herbal char­
acteristics (Wang et al., 2020). However, they are susceptible to
degradation reactions when exposed to air (oxygen), light, and heat and
undergo consequent conversion to terpenic alcohols or oxides (Wang
et al., 2020). β-myrcene and D-limonene were identified in all infusions
except in TMT. An additional compound identified only in the TBT was
p-menthone, an important contributor to the Pu-erh tea aroma (Wang
et al., 2022).
Monoterpenes alcohols comprised 14.3%–30.9% of the total peak
area of the chromatograms, with higher percentages in the infusions
from GBT, TBT, and Com. CLT. They generally contribute floral, sweet,
citrus, herbal, and alcohol notes (Table 3). The large peak area for
monoterpene alcohols could be explained by the free odor-producing
forms of monoterpene alcohols due to the presence of glycosidically
bound monoterpene alcohols in tea. Another explanation would be the
release of some aroma constituents, including monoterpene alcohols,
Fig. 1. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) biplot of pure infusion samples and loadings of volatiles (gray dots) that presented scores > 0.8. Exp. CLT – Exper­
imental coffee leaf tea; Com. CLT – Commercial coffee leaf tea; TBT – Traditional black tea; GBT – Gourmet black tea; TMT – Toasted maté tea.
8
Food Research International 173 (2023) 113361
when non-volatile materials from tea leaves were processed (Huafu and
Xiaoqing, 1996). Linalool, identified in all infusions, has been reported
as a key aroma compound in black tea (Wang et al., 2019; Kang et al.,
2019). Trans-linalool oxide, identified in all pure teas except in Exp. CLT
infusion has also been reported as a key odorant compound (Magagna
et al., 2017; Kang et al., 2019). Although previously identified in toasted
maté (Kaltbach et al., 2022) and coffee leaf tea (Steger et al., 2022), in
this study, α-terpineol was only identified in GBT infusion.
Furans, pyrroles, and pyrazines are heat treatment markers (Pua
et al., 2022). These volatile compounds can be generated by the Maillard
reaction during tea manufacturing (Ho et al., 2015) and suggest the
importance of the drying process for their overall aroma profile. Dihy­
droactinidiolide, an important carotenoid-derived impact furan in black
tea (Ho et al., 2015), was detected in all infusions. It has also been
identified in Pu-erh tea (Wang et al., 2022). Furfural, 5-methylfurfural,
and 2-ethylfuran were only identified in TMT infusion, imparting bread,
almond, sweet, caramellic, cocoa, and woody characters (Table 3). 1-
Furfurylpyrrole was only identified in the GBT infusion, and 1-ethylpyr­
role-2-carbaldehyde, only in the TMT infusion. Although none of the
CLT samples has been roasted/toasted, simply maceration and slow
drying led to the formation of typical roast aroma compounds, such as
2,6-diethylpyrazine, with nutty notes. This compound was identified
exclusively in the CLT infusions (Table 3).
The acids caproic and α-methylvaleric were only identified in the
GBT infusion. These compounds generally impart acid, sweat, and sour
characteristics to the beverage (Table 3).
The norisoprenoid theaspirane is another carotenoid-derived aroma
compound in black tea (Ho et al., 2015). It was identified only in the
Exp. CLT infusion, contributing tea, herbal and woody notes (Table 3).
CLT, BT, and TMT infusions shared some potential impact com­
pounds such as β-ionone, β-damascenone, hexanal, nonanal, decanal,
benzaldehyde, trans-linalool oxide, linalool, and dihydroactinidiolide.
As the CLT were produced similarly to traditional C. sinensis
(Chen, 2018), some volatile compounds were common to CLT and BT
infusions. In general, of the 92 compounds identified, 28 were present in
at least one sample of CLT infusion and one sample of BT infusion, of
which 12 are key odorant compounds (α-ionone, β-ionone, β-dam­
ascenone, hexanal, nonanal, decanal, benzaldehyde, trans-linalool
oxide, linalool, β-myrcene, D-limonene, dihydroactinidiolide)
(Schieberle and Schuh, 2006; Magagna et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2019;
Kang et al., 2019; Yang et al., 2022; Steger et al., 2022; Mei et al., 2023).
J. DePaula et al. Food Research International 173 (2023) 113361

Table 4
Assessor’s profile.
Gender Age

Male Female 18–24 25–34 34–44 45–59

28% 72% 31% 41% 8% 20%

Level of education
Basic education Complete high school Incomplete Complete Master’s or
graduation graduation doctoral degree
6% 10% 31% 10% 43%
Family income (MW: minimum wages)
1 MW 2–3 MW 4–5 MW > 5 MW
5% 24% 25% 46%
Frequency of tea/herbal tea consumption Portion size
Daily Twice daily Weekly 50 mL Regular cup (150 mL) Large cup (240 mL)
40% 9% 51% 12% 33% 55%
Types of teas/herbal teas commonly consumed
Black Green White Toasted maté Chamomile Lemon-balm Fruity Other teas*
tea tea tea
35% 27% 6% 57% 65% 50% 44% 28%
Bulk or sachet? Brands
Only Only bulk teas** Sachet and bulk teas Only Only Traditional and imported
sachets traditional imported
48% 7% 45% 82% 6% 12%
Drinking temperature Consumption of ready-to-drink Habit of
infusions*** sweetening tea
Only hot Only cold Hot and cold Yes No Yes**** No

51% 4% 45% 53% 47% 45% 55%

* Other infusions such as hibiscus, mint, bilberry, and horsetail.

**Consuming only bulk teas purchased in natural food stores or even from their gardens.
***Traditionally served cold and sweetened.
****Among those who sweetened, 77% reported using sugar and 23% sweeteners.

The heating process (drying, toasting, or scorching), to which the
toasted maté leaves are subjected before consumption, leads to a
considerable amount of degradation products and enhances the flavor
(Márquez et al., 2013). Twenty-two of all identified compounds were
present in CLT and TMT infusions, with 10 being key odorant com­
pounds (α-ionone, β-ionone, β-damascenone, hexanal, nonanal, decanal,
benzaldehyde, trans-linalool oxide, linalool, and dihydroactinidiolide)
(Araújo et al., 2007; Márquez et al., 2013; Steger et al., 2022; Mei et al.,
2023).
Considering the large number of volatiles identified in pure in­
fusions, PCA was a useful tool to reduce dimension and highlight the
most relevant volatiles that distinguished samples (loading > 0.8)
(Fig. 1). Although several common volatile compounds were identified
in CLT, BT, and TMT infusions, and some of them are potential impact
aroma compounds, differences in their volatile profile existed and were
highlighted in the PCA biplot. The volatiles that clearly distinguished
the pure tea samples (loading > 0.8) are included in the biplot. The
analysis of PC1 (40.2%) highlights that Com. CLT and GBT present
higher proportion of dihydroactinidiolide; D-limonene; linalool; benze­
neacetaldehyde; β-myrcene; α-methylbutanal; isovaleraldehyde; 2-hexe­
nal and isobutyraldehyde compared with Exp. CLT and TMT, which
presented a lower proportion of those volatiles and a higher proportion
of decanal; nonanal, and 2-methyl allyl butyrate. The analysis of PC2
(24%) highlights that Exp. CLT and Com. CLT present lower proportion
of hexanal; trans-linalool oxide; isopropillaurate; 1-penten-3-ol; 3,5-
octadien-2-one; 2,4-heptadienal; isopropylmyristate; 2-ethyl-1-hexanol
and dihydro-β-ionone. TBT presents lower proportion of all volatiles.
3.3. Consumers’ and sensory profiles and hedonic tests
3.3.1. Consumers’ profile
The consumer’s (untrained) assessors’ main characteristics are pre­
sented in Table 4. The high participation of females in the study can be
attributed to their higher willingness to take part in it. In line with that,
it is worth mentioning that women are now responsible for purchasing
decisions in most Brazilian homes, and they drink more tea (51.6 mL/
day) than men (45.0 mL/day) (IBGE, 2020). Moreover, women around
the world traditionally consume more tea and herbal infusions than
men, although, with the world’s increase in the availability and con­
sumption of exotic and gourmet products, men’s consumption of herbal
infusions is increasing (Tea Statistics, 2021).
3.3.2. Pure (unblended) infusions
Consumer Acceptance and Purchase Intent testing scores: Considering
the pure infusions (n = 5), the mean acceptance scores ranged from 4.9
(disliked slightly) to 6.7 (liked slightly) (Fig. 2A). As usual, purchase
intent results (Fig. 2B) were associated with those from the acceptance
test. No significant differences were observed between the mean
acceptance of male and female assessors (data not shown).
According to Meilgaard et al. (2007), for a sample to be considered
well accepted, it must obtain an Acceptability Index (AI) of 70% or
higher. TMT infusion obtained the highest mean acceptance score (6.7)
and the highest AI (74.4%), followed by Com. and Exp. CLT (6.1 and 5.8,
respectively) (Fig. 2). Lower acceptance scores were obtained for in­
fusions containing TBT and GBT teas. The present results reinforce that
toasted maté infusion are well accepted and largely consumed in the
Southeast of Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro (Lima et al., 2016; IBGE,
2020).
When offered alone, Com. CLT and Exp. CLT failed to reach 70% of
AI although they were close to it (Fig. 2). The lower AI for TBT and GBT
indicate that even though black tea is the most consumed tea in the
world, it was not as well accepted among the Rio de Janeiro consumers
when compared to TMT, although in the filled questionnaires, 35% re­
ported consuming black tea habitually. Such particularity can be
explained by the fact that 53% of these assessors habitually consumed
black tea blends with citrus fruits, especially ready to drink tea with
lemon. We also observed that the GBT did not receive a higher score
than the TBT, although the quality was supposedly better given the
price, the claims on the label, and the higher complexity in the gourmet
tea aroma resulting from processing, which will be commented below.

9
J. DePaula et al.
Fig. 2. Mean acceptance (A) and purchase intent (B) scores given for pure infusions by Brazilian consumers living in Rio de Janeiro. Different letters over the bars
indicate statistical differences among samples by ANOVA (p ≤ 0.05). AI – acceptability index. (n = 100 assessors). Exp. CLT – Experimental coffee leaf tea; Com. CLT
– Commercial coffee leaf tea; TBT – Traditional black tea; GBT – Gourmet black tea; TMT – Toasted maté tea.
The acceptance of the GBT may be explained by the assessors’
consuming habits, given that only a small percentage (12%) reported
consuming this type of tea. Similar situations have been observed in our
studies with specialty coffee beverages and coffee cascara infusions
(DePaula et al., 2022).
CATA test: Considering the five pure infusions, Fig. 3 presents the
main sensory attributes (aroma, flavor, and taste/mouthfeel) and the
number of times the assessors selected them. Orange-brown and light
brown color, aroma and flavor of herbs and green leaf, sweet and bitter
taste, and watery texture were some of the most selected CLT infusions
attributes. For TMT, light and dark brown color, aroma of herbs and
toasted leaf, herbal flavor, refreshing and woody, bitter taste, astringent
mouthfeel, and watery texture were most selected. For BT, orange-red
and reddish color, aroma of herbs and toasted leaf, burnt, herbal, and
woody flavor, bitter taste, astringent mouthfeel, and full-bodied texture
were most selected.
3.3.3. Blended infusions
Volatile organic compounds: The volatile profile of blended samples
reflected the mixture of volatile compounds presented in Table 3;
therefore, it will not be presented here. Clustering analysis by k-means
(Fig. 4) was performed using the 4 dimensions obtained from the PCA
carried out with volatile profiles of pure and blended CLT, BT, and TMT
infusions. This method is convenient for grouping similar samples in the
new variables space (principal components). Three distinct clusters were
observed: one cluster included the Exp. CLT and the Exp. CLT + TBT; the
10
Food Research International 173 (2023) 113361
second cluster included pure TMT, the Exp. CLT + TMT and Com. CLT +
TMT, whereas the third cluster grouped the remaining samples: Com.
CLT, TBT, GBT, and the Com. CLT + TBT (50%). These results show
higher volatile similarity between CLT and TBT in clusters one and
three, possibly because of similar processing. CLT also showed similarity
with TMT, but not as much as with BT because TMT undergoes toasting
and not oxidation and fermentation like the other teas. The sensory re­
sults will be explored below.
Consumers’ Acceptance and Purchase Intent scores of blended infusions:
In order to try to improve the acceptance of CLT samples, they were
blended with TMT or TBT. The mean acceptance scores for blended
infusions ranged from 5.0 (neither liked nor disliked) to 6.4 (liked
slightly) (Fig. 5A). As usual, the purchase intent results (Fig. 5B) were
similar to those from the Acceptance Test, reinforcing the acceptance
results. As with pure samples, no significant difference was observed
between scores given by male and female assessors (data not shown).
Considering the AI calculated based on the mean scores from all asses­
sors, the Exp. CLT and Com. CLT reached the AI value of 70%, suggested
by Meilgaard et al. (2007), when blended with TMT. Furthermore,
blending with TMT caused the mean acceptance of Exp. CLT increased
from 5.8 (when offered pure) to 6.4, but when TMT was offered with
Com. CLT, the increase in acceptance was not significant by ANOVA
(from 6.1 to 6.3). On the other hand, when blended with TBT, Exp., and
Com. CLT failed to reach 70% of AI because of the lower acceptance
scores obtained for infusions containing black C. sinensis teas (Fig. 5A).
The mean acceptance of Com. CLT decreased from 6.1 (when offered
J. DePaula et al. Food Research International 173 (2023) 113361

Fig. 3. Main aroma (A), flavor (B), and taste/mouthfeel (C) attributes selected for the pure infusions by the assessors. Exp. CLT – Experimental coffee leaf tea; Com.
CLT – Commercial coffee leaf tea; TBT – Traditional black tea; GBT – Gourmet black tea; TMT – Toasted maté tea.

Fig. 4. K-means clustering analysis using the k first

dimensions obtained from the PCA carried with vol­
atile profiles of the 9 samples of coffee leaf, black tea,
toasted maté prepared as pure and blend infusions.
Exp. CLT – Experimental coffee leaf tea; Com. CLT –
Commercial coffee leaf tea; TBT – Traditional black
tea; GBT – Gourmet black tea; TMT – Toasted maté
tea; Exp. CLT + TMT – Blend of experimental coffee
leaf tea (50%) and toasted maté tea (50%); Com. CLT
+ TMT - Blend of commercial coffee leaf tea (50%)
and toasted maté tea (50%); Exp. CLT + TBT - Blend
of experimental coffee leaf tea (50%) and traditional
black tea (50%); Com. CLT + TBT - Blend of com­
mercial coffee leaf tea (50%) and traditional black tea
(50%).

11
J. DePaula et al. Food Research International 173 (2023) 113361

Fig. 5. Mean acceptance (A) and purchase intention (B) scores given for pure and blended infusions by Brazilian consumers living in Rio de Janeiro. Different letters
over the bars indicate statistical differences among samples by ANOVA (p ≤ 0.05) (n = 100 assessors). Exp. CLT – Experimental coffee leaf tea; Com. CLT –
Commercial coffee leaf tea; TBT – Traditional black tea; GBT – Gourmet black tea; TMT – Toasted maté tea; Exp. CLT + TMT – Blend of experimental coffee leaf tea
(50%) and toasted maté tea (50%); Com. CLT + TMT - Blend of commercial coffee leaf tea (50%) and toasted maté tea (50%); Exp. CLT + TBT - Blend of experimental
coffee leaf tea (50%) and traditional black tea (50%); Com. CLT + TBT - Blend of commercial coffee leaf tea (50%) and traditional black tea (50%).

pure) to 5.0, although the decrease in acceptance of Exp. CLT (from 5.8
when offered pure) to 5.6 was not significant by ANOVA. On average,
considering both CLT and TMT infusions, pairing with TMT upgraded
CLT flavor (from 5.9 to 6.4, p = 0.0086), while TBT downgraded (from
5.9 to 5.3, p = 0.004), possibly because of the shared volatile and non-
volatile compounds, together with the large and frequent consumption
of maté in the country, including Rio de Janeiro, where it is consumed
toasted and cold (IBGE, 2020). This also suggests that processing coffee
leaves just like toasted maté could considerably improve flavor and
acceptance, at least in the places where toasted maté is largely
consumed. Together with the results obtained in Fig. 4, our results
suggest that blending with black tea in places where unflavored black
tea is often consumed would improve coffee leaf acceptability.
As individual preferences can differ considerably in relation to foods
and are not reflected in the mean scores, cluster analysis was carried out
for the samples containing coffee leaf teas (experimental, commercial,
and blends) to identify consumer segments with similar likings. This is
relevant for distinguishing different market niches. Three groups of
consumers were identified.
Cluster 1 (n = 33, mean score = 8, ‘liked very much’, and AI ≈ 88%)
consistently attributed the highest scores to the pure Exp. and Com. CLT
infusions and blends. This cluster was primarily composed of females
(66%) aged between 25 and 34 years old (16%), with postgraduate
education (45%) and family monthly income > 5 MW (45%). They
habitually consumed caffeinated infusions such as toasted maté (64%),
black tea (45%), and herbal infusions such as lemon balm (70%) and

12
J. DePaula et al.
chamomile (70%). They also reported consuming fruity teas, such as
hibiscus, lavender, and roses (40%). Most assessors usually consumed
traditional brands of teas and did not have the habit of sweetening teas.
Cluster 2 (n = 49, mean score = 6 – “liked” or “slightly liked”, and AI
≈ 63%), the largest cluster, was mainly composed of females (67%),
18–24 years old (39%), with incomplete higher education (40%), and
family monthly income of 4 to 5 MW (43%). They habitually consumed
toasted maté (67%) and herbal or fruit infusions (62%).
Cluster 3 (n = 18, mean score = 4 – “disliked slightly”, and AI ≈ 53%)
13
Food Research International 173 (2023) 113361
Fig. 6. Principal component analysis (PCA):
bi-dimensional plot of samples of leaf tea
infusions (n = 9) (A) and sensory character­
istics attributed by consumers (n = 100)
through CATA test, distributing volatile
compounds and attributes that make up the
best acceptance of samples among consumers
(B). Overall liking and the volatile com­
pounds were considered as supplementary
variables. Exp. CLT – Experimental coffee
leaf tea; Com. CLT – Commercial coffee leaf
tea; TBT – Traditional black tea; GBT –
Gourmet black tea; TMT – Toasted maté tea;
Exp. CLT + TMT – Blend of experimental
coffee leaf tea (50%) and toasted maté tea
(50%); Com. CLT + TMT - Blend of com­
mercial coffee leaf tea (50%) and toasted
maté tea (50%); Exp. CLT + TBT - Blend of
experimental coffee leaf tea (50%) and
traditional black tea (50%); Com. CLT + TBT
- Blend of commercial coffee leaf tea (50%)
and traditional black tea (50%).
was primarily composed of females (83%), 18–24 years old (38%), with
incomplete higher education (49%), family monthly income between 2
and 3 MW (51%). They habitually consumed herbal infusions such as
chamomile (62%), lemon balm (44%), and mint (28%). They did not
drink habitually caffeinated teas.
These results suggest that, in Rio de Janeiro, women aged 25–34
years, with a postgraduate degree, family income greater than 5 MW,
and regular consumers of toasted maté tea are potential consumers of
coffee leaf infusions, especially in the form of blends with toasted maté.
J. DePaula et al. Food Research International 173 (2023) 113361

Table 5
CATA test attributes and the corresponding volatiles compounds identified in this study (in coffee leaf, black tea, and toasted maté).
Aroma and flavor Corresponding volatile compounds References
attributes
from CATA test

CLT: Benzophenone, Isophorone, Cryptone, Hexanal*, 2-Hexenal, (E)-, Octanal*, Nonanal*, Ho et al., 2015; Kang et al., 2019; Pua et al., 2021; Yin
Benzeneacetaldehyde, Isobutyraldehyde, Safranal, β-Cyclocitral, (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol,*, 2-Heptanol, et al., 2022; Steger et al., 2022; Mei et al., 2023
Herbal/Green leaf 1-Methylcycloheptanol, 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol, β-Myrcene*, Methyl salicylate, Ethyl acetate, cis-
β-Hexenyl formate, Linalool*, Theaspirane
BT: Isophorone, Butylacetone, 3,5-Octadien-2-one, (E,E)-, Prenylacetone, 3-Octen-2-one,
Hexahydrofarnesyl acetone, Hexanal*, 2-Hexenal, Nonanal*, (E)-, Heptanal*, 2,4-Hexadienal, (E,
E)-, 2,4-Heptadienal, (E,E)-, Nonanal*, Benzeneacetaldehyde, Isobutyraldehyde, Safranal
β-Cyclocitral, 1-Penten-3-ol, 3-Octenol*, 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol, 4-Methylphenethyl alcohol,
β-Myrcene*, β-Ocimene, Methyl salicylate, cis-β-Hexenyl formate, β-Phenylethyl isothiocyanate,
(Z)-3-Hexenyl crotonate, Linalool oxide, Linalool*
TMT: Benzophenone, 3,5-Octadien-2-one, (E,E)-, Isophorone, 2-Octanone, Hexanal*, 2-Hexenal,
(E)-, 2-Heptenal, (E)-, 2,4-Heptadienal, (E,E)-, Safranal, β-Cyclocitral, 1-Penten-3-ol, 2-Ethyl-1-
hexanol, Methyl salicylate, Linalool oxide, Linalool*, 1-Furfurylpyrrole

CLT: Acetophenone, α-Ionone*, Isophorone, β-Damascenone*, Ketoisophorone, Decanal*, Wang et al., 2010; Rong et al., 2021; Pua et al., 2021;
Benzaldehyde*, Benzeneacetaldehyde, Safranal, β-Cyclocitral, 2-Phenylbut-2-enal, 1-Hexanol, 2- Steger et al., 2022; Mei et al., 2023
Sweet Heptanol, Phenylethyl alcohol*, 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol, D-Limonene*, Ethyl acetate, cis-β-Hexenyl
formate, 2-Methyl allyl butyrate, Linalool*, cis-Linalool oxide
BT: Butylacetone, α-Ionone*, Isophorone, β-Damascenone*, Methyl heptadienone,
β-Methylionone, 3-Octen-2-one, 2,4-Hexadienal, (E,E)-, Decanal*, Benzaldehyde*,
Benzeneacetaldehyde, Safranal, β-Cyclocitral, 2-Phenylbut-2-enal, 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol, D-
Limonene*, β-Ocymene, Furfuryl acetate, cis-β-Hexenyl formate, Linalool*, cis-Linalool oxide
TMT: 2,3-Butanedione, Acetophenone, α-Ionone*, Isophorone, β-Damascenone*, Phthalolactone,
Ketoisophorone, Megastigmatrienone, Decanal*, Benzaldehyde*, Benzeneacetaldehyde, Safranal,
2-Ethyl-1-hexanol, Eugenol, 2-Methyl allyl butyrate, Linalool*, Furfural, 5-Methylfurfural

CLT: α-Ionone*, β-Ionone*, Geranyl acetone, Isophorone, Ketoisophorone, β-iso-Methyl ionone, Rong et al., 2021; Pua et al., 2021; Steger et al., 2022;
Cryptone, β-Myrcene*, p-Cymene, Isoterpinolene, cis-Linalool oxide, Theaspirane Mei et al., 2023
Woody BT: α-Ionone*, β-Ionone*, Geranyl acetone, Isophorone, Methyl heptadienone, β-Methylionone,
Hexahydrofarnesyl acetone, Dihydro-β-ionone, Sandal pentenol, DL-Menthol, β-Myrcene*,
β-Cymene, β-Ocymene, Isoterpinolene, Linalool oxide, cis-Linalool oxide
TMT: α-Ionone*, β-Ionone*, Geranyl acetone, Isophorone, 2-Octanone, Ketoisophorone, Dihydro-
β-ionone, Eugenol, Linalool oxide, Furfural

CLT: Acetophenone; α-Ionone*; β-Ionone*; Geranyl acetone; β-Damascenone*; 2-Butenal; Wang et al., 2010; Li et al., 2020; Rong et al., 2021; Pua
Nonanal*; Decanal*; Benzeneacetaldehyde; Isobutyraldehyde; β-Cyclocitral; 2-Phenylbut-2-enal; et al., 2021; Steger et al., 2022; Mei et al., 2023
Floral 1-Hexanol; 2-Heptanol; Phenylethyl alcohol*; 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol; trans-Linalool oxide*; Linalool*;
cis-Linalool oxide
BT: α-Ionone*; β-Ionone*; Geranyl acetone; β-Damascenone*; β-Methylionone; Nonanal*;
Decanal*; Benzeneacetaldehyde; Isobutyraldehyde; β-Cyclocitral; 2-Phenylbut-2-enal; 2-Ethyl-1-
hexanol; 4-Methylphenethyl alcohol; Linalool oxide; trans-Linalool oxide*; Linalool*; cis-Linalool
oxide
TMT: α-Ionone*; β-Ionone*; Geranyl acetone; β-Damascenone*; Nonanal*; Decanal*;
Benzeneacetaldehyde; β-Cyclocitral; 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol; Linalool oxide; trans-Linalool oxide*;
Linalool*
CLT: 3,5-Octadien-2-one; α-Ionone*; Geranyl acetone; Isophorone; Hexanal*; Benzaldehyde*; Rong et al., 2021; Pua et al., 2021; Steger et al., 2022;
β-Cyclocitral; 1-Hexanol; 2-Heptanol; Ethyl acetate; 2-Methyl allyl butyrate Mei et al., 2023
Fruity BT: Butylacetone; 3,5-Octadien-2-one, (E,E)-; α-Ionone*; Geranyl acetone; Isophorone; Pentanal;
Hexanal*; 2,4-Hexadienal, (E,E)-; 2,4-Heptadienal, (E,E)-; Benzaldehyde*; β-Cyclocitral; 1-
Penten-3-ol
TMT: 3,5-Octadien-2-one, (E,E)-; α-Ionone*; Geranyl acetone; Isophorone; Hexanal*; 2-Heptenal,
(E)-; 2,4-Heptadienal, (E,E); Benzaldehyde*; β-Cyclocitral; 1-Penten-3-ol; Furfuryl acetate; 2-
Methyl allyl butyrate; 1-Furfurylpyrrole
CLT: Ketoisophorone, Octanal*, Nonanal*, Decanal*, 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol, p-Cymene, D- Rong et al., 2021; Galvan-Lima et al., 2021; Steger et al.,
Limonene*, Linalool* 2022; Mei et al., 2023
Citric BT: Prenylacetone, Heptanal*, 2,4-Hexadienal, (E,E)-, Nonanal*, Decanal*, 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol,
β-Cymene, D-Limonene*,
β-Ocymene, Linalool*, α-Terpineol*
TMT: Ketoisophorone, Nonanal*, Decanal*, 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol, Linalool*
CLT: Geranyl acetone, Hexanal*, 2-Hexenal, (E)-, Octanal*, Nonanal*, Isobutyraldehyde, Flavornet
Safranal, (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol*, Phenylethyl alcohol*, 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol, p-Cymene, D-Limonene*, The Good Scents Company Information System
Refreshing Methyl salicylate, cis-β-Hexenyl formate
BT: Geranyl acetone, β-Methylionone, Hexanal*, 2-Hexenal, (E)-, Heptanal*, Nonanal*,
Isobutyraldehyde, Safranal, 2-Heptanol, 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol, β-Cymene, D-Limonene*, Methyl
salicylate, cis-β-Hexenyl formate
TMT: Geranyl acetone, Hexanal*, 2-Hexenal, (E)-, 2-Heptenal, (E)-, Nonanal*, Safranal, Methyl
salicylate
CLT: no corresponding volatile compounds Pua et al., 2021; Steger et al., 2022
BT: 1-Ethylpyrrole-2-carbaldehyde
Toasted leaf
(continued on next page)

14
J. DePaula et al.
Table 5 (continued )
Aroma and flavor Corresponding volatile compounds
attributes
from CATA test
TMT: Furfural, 5-Methylfurfural, 2-Ethylfuran, Oxazole, 4,5-dimethyl-2-propyl-, p-Mentha-1,5,8-
triene
CLT: Benzeneacetaldehyde, α-Methylbutanal
BT: Pentanal, Benzeneacetaldehyde, α-Methylbutanal
Fermented TMT: Benzeneacetaldehyde
CLT: Isovaleraldehyde, 1-Hexanol, Ethyl acetate
BT: Isovaleraldehyde, 1-Penten-3-ol
Medicinal TMT: 1-Penten-3-ol, 2-Ethylfuran
CLT: no corresponding volatile compounds
BT: 1-Ethylpyrrole-2-carbaldehyde
Burnt TMT: Oxazole, 4,5-dimethyl-2-propyl-
Note: CLT – coffee leaf tea (including experimental and commercial coffee leaf tea); BT – black tea (including traditional and gourmet black tea); TMT – Toasted maté
tea. *Potential impact compounds.
CATA test for blended infusions: In general, the infusions prepared
from blends showed many similarities. However, blends prepared with
CLT and TBT showed a higher frequency of herbal/green leaf attributes
for aroma and flavor than blends prepared with CLT and TMT, probably
because the toasting of maté leaves masked the perception of such at­
tributes. When blended with TMT or TBT, the Com. CLT showed a higher
frequency of sweet attributes in both aroma and flavor. Blends prepared
with TBT had a higher frequency of medicinal aroma attribute, which is
negative.
Considering CATA test results for each sample individually, Fig. 6A
shows the superimposition of the ellipses around pure TMT and blends
of Exp. and Com. CLT + TMT indicate that they present very similar
characteristics. Com. CLT carries similar characteristics to Exp. CLT
only. The infusions containing TBT and CLT also showed similar char­
acteristics (Fig. 6A). These results are associated with the volatile results
in Fig. 4.
Fig. 6B presents the main sensory attributes reported for the indi­
vidual samples in the CATA test by the assessors in association with the
acceptance scores and classes of volatile compounds used as secondary
variables.
The first two components explained 59.43% of the variability, with
37.53% of the variance explained by component 1 and 21.90% by
component 2. The attributes leading to higher acceptance (overall
liking) (sweet, toasted leaf, fruity and burnt aroma, sweet taste,
refreshing and fruity flavor) were closer to TMT and blends of Exp. CLT
+ TMT and Com. CLT + TMT. These attributes are considered typical of
the teas usually consumed by most assessors. On the other hand, attri­
butes such as fermented, acidic, astringent, medicinal, and herbal/green
leaf were close to Exp. CLT and Com. CLT, TBT, GBT, and blends of Exp.
CLT + TBT and Com. CLT + TBT that received the lowest scores in the
acceptance test.
It is worth noting that the distribution of chemical classes in Fig. 6B
only considered the number of volatile compounds in each chemical
class, together with the attributes obtained in the CATA test. It did not
consider the chromatogram peak areas or the odor threshold of the
compounds. Nevertheless, the distribution of the classes is reasonably
similar to the odor and flavor descriptions in the literature, which can be
revisited in Table 3. This type of distribution seems to work better when
a food matrix has a high number of volatile compounds of a certain class,
given that a small number of important potential impact compounds
could be neglected.
Still, in Fig. 6B, as previously mentioned, furans, pyrroles, and pyr­
azines are heat treatment markers (Pua et al., 2022). These classes of
volatile compounds were close to the three samples containing (pure
and blended) TMT, contributing to burnt and toasted leaf attributes
typical of toasted teas. Attributes such as acidic and astringent were
close to all pure and blended samples containing TBT. Acids related to
these attributes were only identified in TBT (Table 3). Even being
15
Food Research International 173 (2023) 113361
References
Pétel et al., 2017; Dongmo et al., 2017
Flavornet
The Good Scents Company Information System
processed like black tea, both pure CLT still maintained some of the
characteristics of herbal/green leaf aroma and flavor, similar to green
tea. This suggests that processing can be improved in order to obtain
sensorial characteristics for better acceptance.
The least mentioned attributes in CATA were fermented, fruity, and
citric. This may result either from low concentration and or high odor
threshold of the compounds associated with these attributes or from the
fact that these assessors do not experience these aromas habitually,
given that only those who are used to consuming those foods or have
them in their olfactory memory can recognize them. Although only a few
assessors marked these attributes, compounds associated with these
attributes were identified in the analyses of volatile compounds. For
example, aldehydes such as pentanal, benzeneacetaldehyde, and
α-methylbutanal contribute to fermented characteristics, especially in
BT infusions, a typical attribute from processing these samples. Esters
and ketones are mainly related to the fruity aroma, especially in GBT
and TMT infusions. Aldehydes and monoterpenes alcohol contributed to
citric aroma and flavor.
Table 5 shows CATA test attributes and the corresponding volatiles
compounds identified in the present study for coffee leaf, black tea and
toasted maté.
Projective Mapping: In this study, Projective Mapping was applied on
the same occasion as CATA for the pure and blended leaf tea infusions,
considering the similarity and dissimilarity between samples. The
dendrogram obtained in Fig. 7 identified three groups (the shorter the
vertical line grouping the samples, the greater the degree of similarity
between them): the first was formed by pure Com. and Exp. CLT and the
blend of Com. CLT + TMT. In this group, assessors judged that the Exp.
CLT was very similar to the blend of Com. CLT + TMT. The second group
was formed solely by GBT. These assessors probably perceived the
stronger sensory characteristics of this tea. The third group was formed
by pure TMT, the blend of Exp. CLT + TMT, the blends of Exp. and Com.
CLT + TBT, and pure TBT. In this group, a great similarity was observed
between TMT and the blend of Exp. CLT + TMT and between pure TBT
and the blend of Com. CLT + TBT, showing that when adequately pro­
cessed, coffee leaf tea may assume characteristics similar to maté tea or
black tea.
4. Concluding remarks
This study characterized and compared the volatile composition of
arabica coffee leaf tea, black tea, and toasted maté. Considering all in­
fusions, 92 volatile organic compounds were accurately identified.
Coffee leaf teas shared 22 compounds with toasted maté (from which 10
were potential impact compounds) and 28 with black teas, being 12
potential impact compounds. Overall, the common volatile compounds
reflect their sensory resemblance.
The conversion of coffee by-products into health promotion products
J. DePaula et al.
Fig. 7. Dendrogram obtained from the hierarchical analysis of clusters on the
representation of infusions, in the first and second dimensions of the multiple
factor analysis of the projective mapping data. The shorter the vertical line
grouping the samples the greater the degree of similarity between them. Exp.
CLT – Experimental coffee leaf tea; Com. CLT – Commercial coffee leaf tea; TBT
– Traditional black tea; GBT – Gourmet black tea; TMT – Toasted maté tea; Exp.
CLT + TMT – Blend of experimental coffee leaf tea (50%) and toasted maté tea
(50%); Com. CLT + TMT - Blend of commercial coffee leaf tea (50%) and
toasted maté tea (50%); Exp. CLT + TBT - Blend of experimental coffee leaf tea
(50%) and traditional black tea (50%); Com. CLT + TBT - Blend of commercial
coffee leaf tea (50%) and traditional black tea (50%).
is an exciting possibility for coffee farmers and consumers worldwide as
a way of supporting sustainability in coffee production, providing that
the product follows safety rules defined by regulatory agencies. This
study corroborates the potential of Coffea arabica leaves for human
consumption in the form of infusion and makes it a promising food
product in the West. In Rio de Janeiro, women with greater purchasing
power and higher education are potential consumers of these infusions.
In addition to trying different Coffea species and varieties, the pro­
cessing possibilities to develop and improve flavor are many, including
fermentation, as it is done for Camelia sinensis teas or toasting, as per­
formed for Ilex paraguariensis teas. Then, it can be consumed pure or
blended with a popular local tea, like maté tea in Rio de Janeiro, black
and Pu-erh teas in China or England, or even rooibos tea in South Africa.
It could also be consumed with flavoring agents such as lemon, which is
also very much used in cold and hot beverages in Brazil. When blending,
different concentrations could be tested. To take advantage of this
potentially healthy beverage, however, processing should follow
adequate sanitary rules during the whole production chain, and the
presence of pesticides residues should be controlled, reinforcing the
benefits of organic growth. In addition to achieving higher market pri­
ces, organic practices allow recovery and full use of all by-products in a
safe way.
Finally, the similarity of coffee leaf, toasted maté, and C. sinensis tea
in terms of chemical composition and flavor should not be used to
induce producers to commit fraudulent acts. Even so, food quality reg­
ulatory agencies should be aware of this possibility and instigate the
16
Food Research International 173 (2023) 113361
development of methods to detect coffee leaf material in commercial
toasted maté, black tea, and other similar higher-valued teas.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Juliana DePaula: Formal analysis, Writing – original draft. Sara C.
Cunha: Formal analysis. Isabel M.P.L.V.O. Ferreira: Formal analysis,
Supervision. Ana Carolina V. Porto: Formal analysis. Mateus Pet­
rarca: Formal analysis. Maria Tereza Trevisan: Formal analysis. Ildi
Revi: Formal analysis. Adriana Farah: Conceptualization, Funding
acquisition, Supervision, Writing – original draft.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Mr Geraldo Melo Junior (in memo­
riam) for the support with experimental coffee leaf processing, Jonas
Toledo Guimarães for assistance with colorimetric analyses and all the
assessors who participated in the study.
Financial support
This study was supported by the Research Support Foundation of Rio
de Janeiro (FAPERJ, Brazil: E-26/2018#241762; E26/2021#259919).
It also received support from PT national funds (FCT/MCTES, Fundação
para a Ciência e Tecnologia and Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e
Ensino Superior) through the project UIDB/50006/2020. Sara C. Cunha
acknowledges FCT for the 2022.07841.CEECIND/CP1724/CT0014
contract.
References
ACOB - Associação do Café Orgânico Brasileiro. Retrieved from: https://nossofoco.eco.
br/organicos/cafe-organico-e-sustentavel-pelo-brasil/ Accessed April 15, 2023.
Adhikari, J., Chambers, E., & Koppel, I. V. K. (2019). Impact of consumption temperature
on sensory properties of hot brewed coffee. Food Research International, 115, 95–104.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2018.08.014
Adolfo Lutz Institute. (2008). Métodos Físico-Químicos para Análise de Alimentos. ANVISA:
São Paulo, Brazil.
Araújo, H. C., Lacerda, M. E. G., Lopes, D., Bizzo, H. R., & Kaplan, M. A. C. (2007).
Studies on the aroma of maté (Ilex paraguariensis St. Hil.) using headspace solid-
phase microextraction. Phytochemical Analysis: PCA, 18, 469–474. https://doi.org/
10.1002/pca.1002
Ares, G., Giménez, A., Barreiro, C., & Gámbaro, A. (2010). Use of an open-ended question
to identify drivers of liking of milk desserts. Comparison with preference mapping
techniques. Food Quality and Preference, 21, 4286–4494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
foodqual.2009.05.006
ASTM - American Society for Testing and Materials (1973). Retrieved from: https://book
s.google.com.br/books/about/Proceedings_American_Society_for_Testing.html?
id=GEFIAQAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y Accessed March 15, 2023.
Awoke, A., Beyene, A., Kloos, H., Goethals, P.L., & Triest, L. (2016). River water
pollution status and water policy scenario in Ethiopia: raising awareness for better
implementation in developing countries. Environmental Management, 58(4), 694-
706. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-016-0734-y.
Beyene, A., Kassahun, Y., Addis, T., Assefa, F., Amsalu, A., Legesse, W., … Triest, L.
(2012). The impact of traditional coffee processing on river water quality in Ethiopia
and the urgency of adopting sound environmental practices. Environmental
Monitoring and Assessment, 184(11), 7053–7063. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-
011-2479-7
Bonnely, S., Davis, A.L., Lewis, J.R., & Astill, C. (2003). A model oxidation system to
study oxidised phenolic compounds present in black tea. Food Chemistry, 83(4), 485-
492. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0308-8146(03)00129-8.
J. DePaula et al.
Brasil – ANVISA (2004). Resolution of the Collegiate Board of Directors (RDC) 216/2004.
Retrieved from: https://bvsms.saude.gov.br/bvs/saudelegis/anvisa/2004/res0216_
15_09_2004.html. Accessed March 15, 2023.
Campa, C., & Petitvallet, A. (2018). Beneficial compounds from coffee leaves. In
P. Lashermes (Ed.), Achieving sustainable cultivation of coffee (pp. 237–258). Burleigh
Dodds Science Publishing.
Chen, X. (2018). A review on coffee leaves: phytochemicals, bioactivities, and
applications. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 59(6), 1008-10025.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2018.1546667.
Chen, X., Ma, Z., & Kitts, D. D. (2018). Effects of processing method and age of leaves on
phytochemical profiles and bioactivity of coffee leaves. Food Chemistry, 249, 43–153.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.12.073
Damasio, M. H., & Costell, E. (1991). Análisis sensorial descriptivo: Generación de
descriptores y selección de catadores. Revista de Agroquimica y Tecnologia de
Alimentos, 31(2), 165–177. ISSN 0034–7698.
Dongmo, S. N., Sacher, B., Kollmannsberger, H., & Becker, T. (2017). Key volatile aroma
compounds of lactic acid fermented malt-based beverages–impact of lactic acid
bacteria strains. Food Chemistry, 229, 565–573. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
foodchem.2017.02.091
de Almeida, R. F., Trevisan, M. T. S., Thomaziello, R. A., Breuer, A., Klika, K. D.,
Ulrich, C. M., & Owen, R. W. (2019). Nutraceutical compounds: Echinoids,
flavonoids, xanthones and caffeine identified and quantitated in the leaves of Coffea
arabica trees from three regions of Brazil. Food Research International, 115, 493–503.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2018.10.006
DePaula, J., & Farah, A. (2022). Phenolic compounds in coffee and by-products. In
A. Ramakrishna, P. Giridhar, & M. Jeszka-Skowron (Eds.), Coffee science:
biotechnological advances, economics, and health benefits (pp. 129–145). CRC Press.
DePaula, J., Cunha, S.C., Cruz, A., Sales, A. L., Revi, I., Fernandes, J., Ferreira, I.M.P.L.V.
O., Miguel, M. A. L., & Farah, A. (2022). Volatile fingerprinting and sensory profiles
of coffee cascara teas produced in Latin American countries. Foods, 11(19), Article
3144. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11193144.
EFSA - European Food Safety Authority (2020). Technical Report on the notification of
infusion from coffee leaves (Coffea arabica L. and/or Coffea canephora Pierre ex A.
Froehner) as a traditional food from a third country pursuant to Article 14 of
Regulation (EU) 2015/2283. doi:10.2903/sp.efsa.2020.EN-1783. ISSN:2397-8325.
EUROMONITOR. (2017). Quick Facts: Global Tea Consumption. Retrieved from:
https://www.euromonitor.com/video/quick-facts-global-tea-consumption. Accessed
March 15, 2023.
EUROMONITOR. (2022). Reading the Tea Leaves for 2022 and Beyond. Retrieved from:
https://www.euromonitor.com/article/reading-the-tea-leaves-for-2022-and-beyon
d. Accessed April 15, 2023.
Flavornet and human odor space. Retrieved from: http://www.flavornet.org. Accessed
March, 15 2023.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2022). International tea
market: market situation, prospects, and emerging issue. Retrieved from: https://
www.fao.org/markets-and-trade/commodities/tea/en/. Accessed March 15, 2023.
Friedman, M. (2007). Overview of antibacterial, antitoxin, antiviral, and antifungal
activities of tea flavonoids and teas. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, 51, 116-
134. https://doi.org/10.1002/mnfr.200600173.
Galvan-Lima, A., Cunha, S. C., Martins, Z. E., Soares, A. G., Ferreira, I. M., & Farah, A.
(2021). Headspace volatolome of peel flours from citrus fruits grown in Brazil. Food
Research International, 150, Article 110801. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
foodres.2021.110801
Ho, C. T., Zheng, X., & Li, S. (2015). Tea aroma formation. Food Science and Human
Wellness, 4, 9–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fshw.2015.04.001
International Coffee Organization. Retrieved from: https://www.ico.org/prices/po-
production.pdf. Accessed March 15, 2023.
Huafu, W., & Xiaoqing, Y. (1996). Free and glycosidically bound monoterpene alcohols
in Qimen black tea. Food Chemistry, 56(4), 395–398. https://doi.org/10.1016/0308-
8146(95)00203-0
International Commission on Illumination, 1976. Retrieved from: https://web.archive.
org/web/20191228145700/http://eilv.cie.co.at/term/157. Accessed April 15,
2023.
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD). (2019). Global Market
Report: Tea. Retrieved from: https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/ssi
-global-market-report-tea.pdf. Accessed March 15, 2023.
Kaltbach, P., Ballert, S., Gillmeister, M., Kabrodt, K., & Schellenberg, I. (2022). Mate (Ilex
paraguariensis) tea preparations: Understanding the extraction of volatile and non-
volatile compounds upon variations of the traditional consecutive infusions. Food
Chemistry, 374, Article 131756. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.131756
Kang, S., Yan, H., Zhu, Y., Liu, X., Lv, H.-P., Zhang, Y., … Lin, Z. (2019). Identification
and quantification of key odorants in the world’s four most famous black teas. Food
Research International, 121, 73–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2019.03.009
Kim, M.-R. K., Kim, K.-P., & Chung, S.-J. (2019). Utilizing hedonic frame for projective
mapping: A case study with Korean fermented soybean paste soup. Food Quality and
Preference, 71, 279–285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2018.07.014
Klingel, T., Kremer, J. I., Gottstein, V., Rajcic, de Rezende T., Schwarz, S., &
Lachenmeier, D.W. (2020). A review of coffee by-products including leaf, flower,
cherry, husk, silver skin, and spent grounds as novel foods within the European
Union. Foods, 9(5), Article 665. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9050665.
Kong, C.-L., Zhu, D.-Y., Zhao, Y., Zhao, T. Y., & Tao, Y.-S. (2022). Spent yeast
polysaccharides in mixed alcoholic fermentation between Pichia kluyveri, Pichia
fermentans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae retarded wine fruity ester hydrolysis. Journal
of Food Composition and Analysis, 105, Article 104200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
jfca.2021.104200
17
Food Research International 173 (2023) 113361
Li, Q., Li, Y., Luo, Y., Xiao, L., Wang, K., Huang, J., & Liu, Z. (2020). Characterization of
the key aroma compounds and microorganisms during the manufacturing process of
Fu brick tea. LWT, 127, Article 109355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2020.109355
Lima, J. D. P., & Farah, A. (2019). Methylxanthines in stimulant foods and beverages
commonly consumed in Brazil. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, 78, 75–85.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2019.02.001
Lima, J. P., Farah, A., King, B., de Paulis, T., & Martin, P. R. (2016). Distribution of major
chlorogenic acids and related compounds in Brazilian green and toasted Ilex
paraguariensis (maté) leaves. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 64,
2361–2370. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.6b00276
Loomis, D., Guyton, K. Z., Grosse, Y., Lauby-Secretan, B., El Ghissassi, F., Bouvard, V., …
Straif, K. (2016). International agency for research on cancer monograph working
group. Carcinogenicity of drinking coffee, mate, and very hot beverages. Lancet
Oncology, 17(7), 877–878. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(16)30239-X
Lv, S., Wu, Y., Zhou, J., Lian, M., Li, C., Xu, Y., Liu, S., Wang, C., & Meng, Q. (2014). The
study of fingerprint characteristics of Dayi Pu-Erh tea using a fully automatic HS-
SPME/GC–MS and combined chemometrics method. PLoS ONE, 9, Article e116428.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0116428.
Machado, C. C. B., Bastos, D. H. M., Janzantti, N. S., Facanali, R., Marques, M. O. M., &
Franco, M. R. B. (2007). Determinação do perfil de compostos voláteis e avaliação do
sabor e aroma de bebidas produzidas a partir da erva-mate (Ilex paraguariensis).
Química Nova, 30, 513–518. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0100-40422007000300002
Magagna, F., Cordero, C., Cagliero, C., Liberto, E., Rubiolo, P., Sgorbini, B., & Bicchi, C.
(2017). Black tea volatiles fingerprinting by comprehensive two-dimensional gas
chromatography – Mass spectrometry combined with high concentration capacity
sample preparation techniques: Toward a fully automated sensomic assessment.
Food Chemistry, 225, 276–287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2017.01.003
Márquez, V., Martínez, N., Guerra, M., Fariña, L., Boido, E., & Dellacasa, E. (2013).
Characterization of aroma-impact compounds in yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis)
using GC–olfactometry and GC–MS. Food Research International, 53, 808–815.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2013.02.016
Matiello, J. B., Almeida, S. R., Rosa, G. N., Filho, S. L., Aguiar, E. C., Araújo, R. A., &
Josino, V. (2010). Quantificação do processo de reciclagem de folhas em cafezais.
36◦ Congresso Brasileiro de Pesquisas Caffeiras. Guarapari. Fundação Procafé, 46–47.
Mei, S., Ding, J., & Chen, X. (2023). Identification of differential volatile and non-volatile
compounds in coffee leaves prepared from different tea processing steps using HS-
SPME/GC–MS and HPLC-Orbitrap-MS/MS and investigation of the binding
mechanism of key phytochemicals with olfactory and taste receptors using molecular
docking. Food Research International, 168, Article 112760. https://doi.org/10.1016/
j.foodres.2023.112760
Meilgaard, M. C., Civille, G. V., & Carr, B. T. (2007). Descriptive analysis techniques. In
M. C. In Meilgaard, B. T. Carr, & G. V. Civille (Eds.), Sensory Evaluation Techniques
((4th ed.)., pp. 173–186). CRC Press.
Meilgaard, M. C., Civille, G. V., & Carr, B. T. (2016). Controls for test room, products, and
panel. In M. C. In Meilgaard, B. T. Carr, & G. V. Civille (Eds.), Sensory Evaluation
Techniques ((5th ed.)., pp. 29–42). CRC Press.
NIST V2.2 (National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA) Library Database.
Retrieved from: https://webbook.nist.gov/chemistry/name-ser/. Accessed March
15, 2023.
Pages, J. (2005). Collection and analysis of perceived product inter-distances using
multiple factor analysis: Application to the study of 10 white wines from the Loire
Valley. Food Quality and Preference, 16, 642–649. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
foodqual.2005.01.006
Patay, E. B., Nemeth, S., Tibor, N., Filep, R., Vlase, L., & Papp, N. (2015). Histological
and phytochemical studies of Coffea benghalensis B. Heyne ex Schult., compared with
Coffea arabica L. Farmacia, 64(1), 125–130.
Pétel, C., Onno, B., & Prost, C. (2017). Sourdough volatile compounds and their
contribution to bread: A review. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 59, 105–123.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2016.10.015
Pua, A., Choo, W. X. D., Goh, R. M. V., Liu, S. Q., Cornuz, M., Ee, K.-H., … Yu, B. (2021).
A systematic study of key odourants, non-volatile compounds, and antioxidant
capacity of cascara (dried Coffea arabica pulp). LWT, 138, Article 110630. https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2020.110630
Rong, Y., Gu, X., Li, D., Chen, L., Zhang, Y., & Wang, Z. (2021). Characterization of
aroma, sensory and taste properties of Angelica keiskei tea. European Food Research
and Technology, 247(7), 1665–1677. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-021-03737-7
IBGE - Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (2020). “Pesquisa de Orçamentos
Familiares 2017-2018”. Retrieved from: https://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/visual
izacao/livros/liv101742.pdf. Accessed March 15, 2023.
Rouseff, R. & Perez-Cacho, P.R. (2007). Citrus flavor. In Berger, R. G. (Ed). Flavours and
fragrances: Chemistry, bioprocessing and sustainability (pp. 117- 134). Springer Science
& Business Media.
Schieberle, P., & Schuh, C. (2006). Aroma compounds in black tea powders of different
origins-changes induced by preparation of the infusion. In W. L. P. Bredie, &
M. A. Petersen (Eds.), Developments in food science (pp. 151–156). Elsevier.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (1997). Codex Alimentarius
Commission. Retrieved from: https://www.fao.org/3/W6419E/W6419E00.
htm#Contents. Accessed March 15, 2023.
Schwab, W., Davidovich-Rikanati, R., & Lewinsohn, E. (2008). Biosynthesis of plant-
derived flavor compounds. Plant Journal, 54, 712–732. https://doi.org/10.1111/
j.1365-313X.2008.03446.x.
STATISTA. (2022). Global tea consumption 2012-2025. Retrieved from: https://www.st
atista.com/statistics/940102/global-tea-consumption/. Accessed March 15, 2023.
Steger, M. C., Rigling, M., Blumenthal, P., Segatz, V., Quintanilla-Belucci, A.,
Beisel, J. M., … Zhang, Y. (2022). Coffee leaf tea from El Salvador: On-site
J. DePaula et al.
production considering influences of processing on chemical composition. Foods, 11,
Article 2533. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11172553
Suplements 101, Tea Statistics. (2021). Retrieved from: https://supplements101.net/tea-
statistics/. Accessed March 15, 2023.
The Good Scents Company Information System. Retrieved from: http://www.
thegoodscentscompany.com. Accessed March 15 August 2023.
Trevisan, M. T. S., de Almeida, R. F., Breuer, A., & Owen, R. W. (2019). Phytochemicals
from Coffea leaves. In A. Farah (Ed.), Coffee: Production, Quality and Chemistry (pp.
771–787). Royal Society of Chemistry.
Wang, X., Wang, D., Li, J., Ye, C., & Kubota, K. (2010). Aroma characteristics of Cocoa
Tea (Camellia ptilophylla Chang). Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry, 74(5),
946–953. https://doi.org/10.1271/bbb.90752
Wang, Y., Wang, S., Fabroni, S., Feng, S., Rapisarda, P., & Rouseff, R. (2020). The genus
citrus. In M. Talon, M. Caruso, & F. G. Gmitter (Eds.), Chemistry of Citrus Flavor (pp.
447–470). Elsevier.
Wang, Z., Han, B., Jing, W., Yi, Z., Zhang, Y., Ren, D., & Yi, L. (2019). Effects of different
steeping temperatures on the leaching of aroma components in black tea by
SPME–GC–MS coupled with chemometric method. Journal of AOAC International,
102(6), 1834–1844. https://doi.org/10.5740/jaoacint.18-0405
Wang, Z., Su, D., Ren, H., Lv, Q., Ren, L., Li, Y., & Zhou, H. (2022). Effect of different
drying methods after fermentation on the aroma of Pu-erh tea (ripe tea). LWT, 171,
Article 114129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2022.114129
18
Food Research International 173 (2023) 113361
Xu, Y.-Q., Zou, C., Gao, Y., Chen, J.-X., Wang, F., Chen, G.-S., & Yin, J.-F. (2017). Effect of
the type of brewing water on the chemical composition, sensory quality and
antioxidant capacity of Chinese teas. Food Chemistry, 236, 142–151. https://doi.org/
10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.11.110
Yang, Y., Zhu, H., Chen, J., Xie, J., Shen, S., Deng, Y., … Jiang, Y. (2022).
Characterization of the key aroma compounds in black teas with different aroma
types by using gas chromatography electronic nose, gas chromatography-ion
mobility spectrometry, and odor activity value analysis. LWT, 163, Article 113492.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2022.113492
Yin, P., Kong, Y.-S., Liu, P.-P., Wang, J.-J., Zhu, Y., Wang, G.-M., … Liu, Z.-H. (2022).
A critical review of key odorants in green tea: Identification and biochemical
formation pathway. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 129, 221–232. https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.tifs.2022.09.013
Zhang, Z., Zhang, Q., Yang, H., Sun, L., Xia, H., Sun, W., … Zhang, J. (2022). Bacterial
communities related to aroma formation during spontaneous fermentation of
‘Cabernet Sauvignon’ wine in Ningxia, China. Foods, 11(18), 2775. https://doi.org/
10.3390/foods11182775
Zheng, X.-Q., Li, Q.-S., Xiang, L.-P., & Liang, Y.-R. (2016). Recent advances in volatiles of
teas. Molecules, 21(3), 338. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules21030338