Abstract:Penthorum chinense Pursh (PCP) is a functional new food material traditionally used as herbal substitutional tea, with strong bitterness and unpleasant smell. In the present work, the influence of PCP leaf tea processing on its sensory qualities were studied using response surface methodology (RSM) combined with Fuzzy Math Evaluation, and the optimized processing conditions were obtained as follows: baking moisture 60%, primary dry temperature 124 ℃ and rolling time 18 min. The results of amino acid composition analysis, UV-VIS and HPLC showed that the optimized processing decreased the contents of bitter amino acids in PCP leaf tea liquid and gallic acid, and gallic acid could be the main bitter taste ingredients in PCP leaf. HS-SPME and GC-MS investigation showed that PCP leaf showed the odor similar to green grass, orange oil, flowers and fresh scent, and the preparation of PCP leaf tea increased the fresh scent and flower fragrance of PCP leaf. Besides, the preparation of PCP leaf tea had no significant influence on the dissolution of the total flavonoids, quercetin and pinocembrin.