Changes of chemical contents during the withering process of white tea

Abstract

Abstract White tea is produced from the bud of Camellia sinensis, which is processed with minimum processing. Withering is an important step in processing white tea. Withering in white tea processing utilizes sunlight to obtain moisture content properly. This study aims to determine the chemical changes of tea buds during the processing of white tea. Observations were carried out on the withering of 4, 21, 45, 69 and 93 hours. The parameters observed included total polyphenols, theaflavin, and thearubigin. The results showed that during the process of withering changes in total polyphenols, from 33% at 4 hours of withering, to 28% at 93 hours of withering. Theaflavin content decreases from 0.05% to 0.036% at 4 hours to 96 hours withering, respectively. This shows that enzymatic oxidation reactions still occur during the processing of white tea. Results suggest that withering for 96 hours on the processing of white tea is optimum. The present study also provides guidelines on application processing to produce a high quality of white tea.