Abstract: The appearance, liquor color, taste and aroma of wild ancient tea and tea garden tea were evaluated and determined by sensory evaluation and chemical analysis method. Both of the appearances were stripy. The color of dried wild ancient tea was redyellow and liquor color is yellowred, while the dried tea garden tea was greenblack and liquor color was greenyellow. The wild ancient tea tasted soft, sweet, and a little bitter, while the tea garden tea was much bitter and slightly sweet at the beginning. The contents of tea polyphenols and flavonoid compounds of both were the same, which were about 28.9% and 7%. The five kinds of catechins which were determined in wild ancient tea were two times more of that in tea garden tea. The tea garden teas caffeine content was nearly two times more than wild ancient tea. The content of free amino acids (AAs) in wild ancient tea was higher, while the tea garden tea had a higher content (4.60%) than wild ancient tea (3.82%) in soluble sugar. Fifty-eight kinds of aroma compounds were measured in wild ancient tea and 74 kinds of aroma compounds in tea garden tea, and there were 12 common components in both. In all, the wild ancient tea was far superior to the tea garden tea, but the effects of catechins and aroma compounds on the human body needed to be further studied.

Key words: wild ancient tea, tea garden tea, appearance, quality