Dynamic aroma compounds in golden flower white tea based on the traditional flowering process

Golden Flower White Tea (GFWT) is a recently innovated tea type, for which few studies have been conducted, especially on its aroma. In this study, five processing stages of the GFWT, raw material (RM), after-steaming (FH0), 4-d flowering (FH4), 8-d flowering (FH8), and after-drying (GZ8), were investigated. After deep analysis, 59 and 152 volatile compounds were identified via GC-IMS and GC-MS, respectively, and the dynamic changes in volatile components during different stages were revealed, which significantly contributed to the study of the final aroma of the GFWT. Multivariate statistical analysis of PLS-DA revealed that steaming and mid-to-late flowering (4–8 d) stages significantly influenced volatile metabolite profiles. Key aroma compounds, including 2-octanol, 1-octen-3-ol, 2,3-butanedione, and 2-methylpentanal, were screened through relative odor activity value (ROAV) analysis, highlighting the critical role of microbial fermentation (Eurotium cristatum) in forming GFWT's characteristic creamy, mushroom-like, and floral flavor. Sensory evaluation confirmed the aroma evolution from green aroma to dominant mushroom-like flavor with fruity/woody, which strongly correlated with methyl salicylate, 1-octen-3-ol, and γ-butyrolactone. This study provides a theoretical foundation for flavor enhancement and process optimization in GFWT production.