Abstract:Tea cultivar ‘Huangshanbaicha No. 1’ (HSBC#1) was bred from natural albino mutants of tea plants. The green tea processed from HSBC#1 possess umami, mellow taste and fresh odor. For investigating the metabolite profile of green tea produced from three albino stages (early, middle, and late) of HSBC#1, the main components in tea, such as volatile compounds, catechins, caffeine, and free amino acids, were analyzed. The green teas produced from different stages of HSBC#1 showed the different odor and taste via sensory evaluation. A total of twenty-nine volatiles was identified and quantified. The principal component analysis indicated that the top five differential volatiles were geraniol, (Z)-hexanoic acid, 3-hexenyl ester, linalool, (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol, and (Z)-butanoic acid, 3-hexenyl ester, approximately contributing to the differences in aroma among green teas. Catechins were lower concentrated in early-stage green tea, but their concentrations increased significantly in late-stage green tea. The amount of caffeine had no difference in three types of green tea. The total content of free amino acids in early-stage green tea accounted for about 4% of dry weight, while that in late-stage green tea only for 1.3% of dry weight. Therefore, the differences in metabolites among tender shoots of HSBC#1 at different albino stages lead to the difference in the flavor of green tea products.