Effects of baking degree of Longjing green tea on flavor attributes, antioxidant activity and advanced glycation end products.

Baking is a critical dry-heat step in green tea processing that profoundly influences sensory and chemical properties. However, the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and the corresponding changes in bioactivity under different baking intensities remain poorly understood. Here, Longjing green tea (LGT) was processed with varying baking durations, yielding distinct flavor profiles: Fresh, chestnut, fried bean, baked, highly baked, and deeply burnt. Extended baking induced a notable transition in infusion color from yellow-green to reddish-orange, accompanied by a significant decrease in lightness. Sensory evaluations showed that aroma intensity, duration, and highly baked notes increased gradually with baking time, while fragrant aromas diminished. The intensity of infusion bitterness, astringency, and sweet aftertaste first escalated and then weakened, while sweetness and freshness decreased with the increase of baking degree. Baking caused reductions in polyphenols, amino acids, and soluble sugars, whereas caffeine levels remained relatively stable. Metabolomic analyses demonstrated that leucine was significantly positively correlated with the development of bitterness and astringency, while sweetness was closely related to the content of jaslanceoside A and jaslanceoside B. Notably, baking significantly promoted the formation of two major advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in green tea, namely Nε-(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML) and Nε-(carboxyethyl)lysine (CEL), and this process could be partly attenuated by epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). Although highly baked tea exhibited comparable efficacy in restoring oxidative-stress-injured cell viability, its reactive oxygen species (ROS)-scavenging activity decreased with prolonged baking. Overall, excessive baking not only alters the chemical composition and sensory attributes of LGT but also accelerates AGEs formation and impairs antioxidant capacity. These findings underscore the need to control baking conditions for balancing flavor development and bioactivity preservation.