Essential oil composition of commercial black tea (Camellia sinensis)

Summary The essential oil components of different tea brands were investigated by gas chromatography. The oil yields of dried tea samples were ranged from 0.09% to 0.63%. Twenty-five compounds from Supreme and Lipton Yellow Label tea brands representing 98.0% and 88.0% of the Camellia sinensis oil were identified, respectively. The main ones were β-pinene (51.2%) and α-pinene (30.2%). Nineteen components from Tapal tea brand representing 76.7% of the C. sinensis oil were determined with high contents of muurol-5-en-4-a-ol (10.5%) and muurol-5-en-4-b-ol (31.3%). Fifteen components from Deer and Diana tea brands were identified, accounting for 83.3% and 78.2% of the oil containing α-cadinol and β-pinene. Seventeen components from non-branded teas were determined with high contents of muurol-5-en-4-a-ol and muurol-5-en-4-b-ol. Twenty-one compounds from non-branded Bangladeshi Shezan and Indian teas were also identified. All oils consisted of monoterpenic hydrocarbons, oxygenated monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes.