Abstract:This study analyzed Fu brick tea, and the ‘Golden flower’(Eurotium cristatum ) as well as the tea base without ‘Golden flower’ isolated from Fu brick tea, detecting their volatile compounds by sensory evaluation, solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(SPME-GC- MS), odor active value(OAV) and chemometric methods to explore the key aroma compounds and their source in Fu brick tea. The result of sensory evaluation indicated that the characteristic aroma of Fu brick tea was formed by the combination of aroma compounds from the ‘Golden flower’ and the tea base without ‘Golden flower’, and neither was dispensable. In total, 59 volatile compounds were identified and quantified in samples. Alcohols and esters were the dominant volatiles in Fu brick tea and the ‘Golden flower’. However, alcohols and aldehydes dominated in the tea base without ‘Golden flower’. Among them, 16 volatile components were aroma compounds of Fu brick tea as identified by OAV analysis. Combined with the multivariable statistics analysis, 7 volatile aroma components with significant content difference were screened out in the tea base without ‘Golden flower’ and the ‘Golden flower’. Hexanal and(E,E )-2,4-Octadienal originated from the tea base without ‘Golden flower’ mainly contributed to the grassy flavor in Fu brick tea, while benzyl alcohol, linalool, cedrol, 1-octen-3-ol and methyl salicylate originated from the ‘Golden flower’ mainly contributed to floral, woody, and the smell of mushroom and wintergreen in Fu brick tea.