A kind of flat-shaped green tea and its continuous processing method
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202511686616.3
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-11-18
- Publication Date
- 2026-08-18
AI Technical Summary
[0003]目前缺乏将“扁形绿茶”的几何形态美与“显毫绿茶”的茸毫披覆美有机统一于一体的创新产品
本发明提供了一种新品类绿茶，其实现了茶叶的“扁形”与“显毫”两大外形特征，感官品质卓越，填补了市场空白。本发明提供了一种“压扁-干燥-显毫一体化”的全新工艺原理，通过双履带压扁烘干机实现了多重工艺目标的协同增效，是突破性的技术解决方案。
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Figure CN122581355A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention provides a flat green tea with prominent white hairs and its continuous processing method, belonging to the field of tea processing technology. Background Technology
[0002] The value of premium green tea highly depends on its unique appearance and internal quality. There are two main types of products on the market. One type is flat-shaped green tea, represented by West Lake Longjing. Traditionally, its processing relies on artisans shaping the tea leaves using techniques like pressing and grinding in a wok. Modern mechanized equipment (such as the reciprocating tea-frying machine described in CN201210345678.XA) achieves flattening through strong mechanical friction and extrusion, but inevitably leads to severe damage to the surface cuticle and downy hairs (i.e., tea fuzz). The finished product appears "glossy and without downy hairs," and its quality is significantly different from high-end handmade teas. The other type is green tea with prominent downy hairs, represented by Dongting Biluochun and Huangshan Maofeng. Its processing uses a "light rolling" or "no-rolling" process to protect the downy hairs. The finished tea is mostly naturally curled, coiled, or bud-shaped, far from a "flat and straight" appearance.
[0003] Currently, there is a lack of innovative products that organically unify the geometric beauty of "flat green tea" with the delicate beauty of "green tea with visible downy hairs." Furthermore, existing processing machinery has limited functionality, and its "shaping" and "visible downy hairs" process objectives contradict each other, making it impossible to achieve them collaboratively in a single piece of equipment or a continuous process. In addition, the equipment for each process (fixing, shaping, drying) is mostly independent single machines, relying on manual coordination, resulting in "intermittent" production, low efficiency, and large quality fluctuations, failing to meet the demands of continuous industrial production.
[0004] Therefore, developing a continuous processing method for the stable industrial production of flat-shaped green tea with visible white hairs is of great significance for promoting industrial upgrading. Summary of the Invention
[0005] Based on this, the present invention provides a flat green tea with visible white down and its continuous processing method. The present invention not only enables a mechanized and continuous processing method for simultaneously achieving flattening and straightening of tea leaves and revealing their white down, but also provides an innovative green tea product prepared by this method that combines a flat shape and visible white down characteristics.
[0006] The present invention is specifically implemented using the following technical solutions: The present invention provides a continuous processing method for flat green tea with visible downy hairs, comprising: withering process; compound fixation process; cooling and rehydration process; shaping process; flattening and drying process; showing downy hairs process; and aroma enhancement process. The composite fixation includes microwave fixation and reciprocating vibration fixation; The flattening and drying process employs a dual-track flattening and drying machine to simultaneously achieve flattening and shaping, as well as drying and setting. The method utilizes an automated production line that operates smoothly via a conveyor system.
[0007] Preferably, the withering process involves placing fresh tea leaves in a temperature and humidity-controlled withering machine and withering them for 8 to 10 hours at a temperature of 20-25°C and a relative humidity of 65-75%, so that the moisture content of the fresh leaves is reduced to 65-75%. At this time, the grassy smell of the fresh leaves is reduced and the leaf texture becomes soft.
[0008] Preferably, the compound blanching specifically includes the following steps: (1) Fresh leaves are evenly conveyed to the microwave blanching section by an automatic spreading machine, where the microwave frequency is 2450MHz±50Hz and the blanching time is 1~3 minutes, so as to inactivate enzyme activity with instantaneous high temperature. (2) Then enter the reciprocating vibration multi-functional blanching section, with a temperature of 180-240℃, blanching for 3-5 minutes to achieve thorough blanching, uniform dehydration and aroma development; the two-stage blanching mode efficiently completes blanching while maximizing the preservation of the integrity of the leaf surface hairs.
[0009] Preferably, the cooling and rehydration process involves rapidly cooling the blanched leaves to 20-25°C via a cold air conveyor belt, thereby softening the leaf texture and ensuring even moisture distribution.
[0010] Preferably, in the shaping process, the rehydrated leaves are fed into a reciprocating vibrating shaping machine and shaped for 5-8 minutes at 80-95℃, amplitude 5-10mm, and frequency 200-250 times / minute to initially straighten the strips and lay the foundation for subsequent flattening.
[0011] Preferably, the flattening and drying process involves feeding the tea leaves into a double-track flattening and drying machine. This equipment includes two parallel annular tracks. The lower track contains a heating plate and is made of food-grade steel (304 or higher). The upper track contains a pneumatic system and is made of polyurethane (PU) with a strength of (A 90+). The spacing and pressure between the tracks can be infinitely adjusted via the upper track's pneumatic system. The tea leaves move synchronously between the upper and lower tracks, with the lower track temperature at 60-80℃, the upper track's pneumatic system maintaining a linear pressure of 0.05-0.15 MPa between the tracks, and the operating speed at 0.5-2.5 m / min, for 8-15 minutes. The process allows the tea leaves to fully remove moisture through heat. At the same time, in an environment with a temperature of 60-80℃ between the two conveyor belts, the tea leaves are subjected to uniform, rigid and flexible, constant vertical pressure, which causes them to undergo plastic deformation and reorganize the cell wall tissue structure, thereby forming a stable flat shape. This reduces the moisture content of the tea leaves to 23-35%, laying the foundation for subsequent tea leaf enhancement.
[0012] Preferably, the process of revealing the white hairs involves feeding the flattened and dried tea leaves into a low-temperature white hair revealing machine, where they are gently vibrated for 5-8 minutes at 50-65°C, an amplitude of 10-20mm, and a frequency of 60-120 times / minute.
[0013] Preferably, the aroma enhancement process includes the following three stages: (a) First stage: The tea leaves after the hair-showing process are kept at 80-100℃ for 30-60 minutes to enhance their aroma; (b) Second stage: The tea leaves treated in step (a) are kept warm and infused with aroma at a temperature of 60-85℃ for 90-150 minutes; (c) Third stage: The tea leaves treated in step (b) are kept at a temperature of 90-120℃ for 10-25 minutes to enhance aroma. The aroma is activated and fixed through three processes to obtain the final product.
[0014] The present invention also includes a flat green tea with visible white down, prepared by the above method, wherein the flatness and straightness of the flat green tea is ≥90%, the white down exposure rate is ≥40%, the tea polyphenol retention rate is ≥85%, and the total amino acid content is ≥3.5%.
[0015] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects: This invention provides a new type of green tea that achieves the two major physical characteristics of "flat shape" and "display of fine hairs," resulting in superior sensory quality and filling a market gap. This invention also provides a novel "flattening-drying-displaying of fine hairs integrated" process principle, achieving synergistic effects of multiple process objectives through a dual-track flattening and drying machine, representing a groundbreaking technical solution.
[0016] This invention constructs a complete continuous and automated production line, realizing uninterrupted flow operation from raw materials to finished products, increasing production efficiency by more than 300%, and ensuring highly consistent, stable and controllable product quality.
[0017] The method provided by this invention has clear parameters, reliable equipment, and is easy to promote and apply to large-scale industrial production, resulting in significant economic and social benefits. Attached Figure Description
[0018] Figure 1 The flat-shaped green tea with prominent white hairs prepared in Example 1; Figure 2 Flat green tea prepared for Comparative Example 1. Detailed Implementation
[0019] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention clearer, the preferred embodiments of this invention will be described in further detail below with reference to the examples. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of this invention without inventive effort are within the scope of protection of this invention.
[0020] Example 1 A continuous processing method for flat-shaped green tea with prominent white hairs, using an automated production line and conveyor system, includes the following steps: (1) Spreading green leaves Fresh tea leaves (one bud and one leaf just unfolded, Qiancha No. 1 variety) are placed in a withering machine with controlled temperature and humidity. Under the conditions of 25℃ temperature and 70% relative humidity, the withering time is 9 hours, so that the moisture content of the fresh leaves is reduced to 65%. At this time, the grassy smell of the fresh leaves is reduced and the leaf texture becomes soft. Compound blanching process; Fresh leaves are evenly conveyed to the microwave blanching section by an automatic spreading machine, where the microwave frequency is 2450MHz±50Hz and the blanching time is 2 minutes, using instantaneous high temperature to inactivate enzyme activity; then they enter the reciprocating vibration multi-functional blanching section, where the temperature is 220℃ and the blanching time is 3 minutes, to achieve thorough blanching, uniform dehydration and aroma development; the two-stage blanching mode efficiently completes the blanching while preserving the integrity of the leaf surface hairs to the maximum extent; (3) Cooling and rehydration process; The blanched leaves are rapidly cooled to 25°C via a cold air conveyor belt, which softens the leaf texture and evenly distributes the moisture. (4) Slab preparation process; The rehydrated leaves are fed into a reciprocating vibrating sizing machine and sizing for 6 minutes at 90℃, 8mm amplitude, and 230 times / minute frequency to initially straighten the strips and lay the foundation for subsequent flattening. (5) Flattening and drying process; The tea leaves are fed into a double-track flattening dryer. This equipment includes two parallel annular tracks. The lower track contains a heating plate and is made of food-grade steel (304 or higher stainless steel). The upper track contains a pneumatic system and is made of polyurethane (PU) with a strength of A 90+. The spacing and pressure between the tracks can be infinitely adjusted via the upper track's pneumatic system. The tea leaves move synchronously between the upper and lower tracks. The lower track temperature is 70℃, the upper track's pneumatic system maintains a linear pressure of 0.1MPa between the tracks, and the operating speed is 2m / min. The process lasts for 12 minutes. This process allows the tea leaves to fully remove moisture through heat. Simultaneously, under uniform, combined rigidity and flexibility, and constant vertical pressure at 70℃ between the two tracks, the tea undergoes plastic deformation and cell wall restructuring, resulting in a stable flattened shape. This reduces the moisture content of the tea leaves to 30%, laying the foundation for subsequent processing. (6) The process of revealing the fine hairs; The flattened and dried tea leaves are fed into a low-temperature tea-refining machine and gently vibrated for 6 minutes at 60°C, 15mm amplitude, and 100 times / minute frequency. (7) Fragrance enhancement process; (a) First stage: The tea leaves after the hair-showing process are kept at 80℃ for 50 minutes to enhance their aroma; (b) Second stage: The tea leaves treated in step (a) are kept at 85°C for 120 minutes to enhance their aroma; (c) Third stage: The tea leaves treated in step (b) are kept at 110℃ for 20 minutes to enhance aroma. The aroma is activated and fixed through three processes, resulting in the final product.
[0021] Example 2 A continuous processing method for flat-shaped green tea with prominent white hairs, using an automated production line and conveyor system, includes the following steps: (1) Spreading green leaves Fresh tea leaves (one bud and one leaf just unfolded, Qiancha No. 1 variety) are placed in a withering machine with controlled temperature and humidity. Under the conditions of 25℃ temperature and 70% relative humidity, the withering time is 9 hours, so that the moisture content of the fresh leaves is reduced to 65%. At this time, the grassy smell of the fresh leaves is reduced and the leaf texture becomes soft. Compound blanching process; Fresh leaves are evenly conveyed to the microwave blanching section by an automatic spreading machine, where the microwave frequency is 2450MHz±50Hz and the blanching time is 2 minutes, using instantaneous high temperature to inactivate enzyme activity; then they enter the reciprocating vibration multi-functional blanching section, where the temperature is 200℃ and the blanching time is 3 minutes, to achieve thorough blanching, uniform dehydration and aroma development; the two-stage blanching mode efficiently completes the blanching while preserving the integrity of the leaf surface hairs to the maximum extent; (3) Cooling and rehydration process; The blanched leaves are rapidly cooled to 25°C via a cold air conveyor belt, which softens the leaf texture and evenly distributes the moisture. (4) Slab preparation process; The rehydrated leaves are fed into a reciprocating vibrating strip forming machine and striped for 5 minutes at 80℃, 10mm amplitude, and 250 times / minute frequency to initially straighten the strips and lay the foundation for subsequent flattening. (5) Flattening and drying process; The tea leaves are fed into a double-track flattening and drying machine. This equipment includes two parallel annular tracks. The lower track contains a heating plate and is made of food-grade steel (304 or higher stainless steel). The upper track contains a pneumatic system and is made of polyurethane (PU) with a strength of A 90+. The spacing and pressure between the tracks can be infinitely adjusted via the upper track's pneumatic system. The tea leaves move synchronously between the upper and lower tracks. The lower track temperature is 70℃, the upper track's pneumatic system maintains a linear pressure of 0.1MPa between the tracks, and the operating speed is 2m / min. The process lasts for 10 minutes. This process allows the tea leaves to fully remove moisture through heat. Simultaneously, under uniform, combined rigidity and flexibility, and constant vertical pressure at 70℃ between the two tracks, the tea undergoes plastic deformation and cell wall tissue restructuring, resulting in a stable flattened shape. This reduces the moisture content of the tea leaves to 30%, laying the foundation for subsequent processing. (6) The process of revealing the fine hairs; The flattened and dried tea leaves are fed into a low-temperature tea-refining machine and gently vibrated for 6 minutes at 60°C, 15mm amplitude, and 100 times / minute frequency. (7) Fragrance enhancement process; (a) First stage: The tea leaves after the hair-showing process are kept at 100℃ for 30 minutes to enhance their aroma; (b) Second stage: The tea leaves treated in step (a) are kept at 60°C for 150 minutes to enhance their aroma; (c) Third stage: The tea leaves treated in step (b) are kept at 120℃ for 10 minutes to enhance aroma. The aroma is activated and fixed through three processes, resulting in the final product.
[0022] Example 3 A continuous processing method for flat-shaped green tea with prominent white hairs, using an automated production line and conveyor system, includes the following steps: (1) Spreading green leaves Fresh tea leaves (one bud and one leaf just unfolded, Qiancha No. 1 variety) are placed in a withering machine with controlled temperature and humidity. Under the conditions of 25℃ temperature and 70% relative humidity, the withering time is 9 hours, so that the moisture content of the fresh leaves is reduced to 65%. At this time, the grassy smell of the fresh leaves is reduced and the leaf texture becomes soft. Compound blanching process; Fresh leaves are evenly conveyed to the microwave blanching section by an automatic spreading machine. The microwave frequency is 2450MHz±50Hz, and the blanching time is 2 minutes to inactivate enzyme activity with instantaneous high temperature. Then, they enter the reciprocating vibration multi-functional blanching section at a temperature of 180℃ for 5 minutes to achieve thorough blanching, uniform dehydration, and aroma development. The two-stage blanching mode efficiently completes the blanching process while preserving the integrity of the leaf surface hairs to the maximum extent. (3) Cooling and rehydration process; The blanched leaves are rapidly cooled to 25°C via a cold air conveyor belt, which softens the leaf texture and evenly distributes the moisture. (4) Slab preparation process; The rehydrated leaves are fed into a reciprocating vibrating sizing machine and sizing for 7 minutes at 90℃, 10mm amplitude, and 240 times / minute frequency to initially straighten the strips and lay the foundation for subsequent flattening. (5) Flattening and drying process; The tea leaves are fed into a double-track flattening and drying machine. This equipment includes two parallel annular tracks. The lower track contains a heating plate and is made of food-grade steel (304 or higher stainless steel). The upper track contains a pneumatic system and is made of polyurethane (PU) with a strength of A 90+. The spacing and pressure between the tracks can be infinitely adjusted via the upper track's pneumatic system. The tea leaves move synchronously between the upper and lower tracks. The lower track temperature is 75℃, the upper track's pneumatic system maintains a linear pressure of 0.1MPa between the tracks, and the operating speed is 2m / min for 8 minutes. This process allows the tea leaves to fully remove moisture through heat. Simultaneously, under uniform, combined rigidity and flexibility, and constant vertical pressure between the two tracks at 75℃, the tea undergoes plastic deformation and cell wall tissue restructuring, resulting in a stable flattened shape. This reduces the moisture content of the tea leaves to 30%, laying the foundation for subsequent processing. (6) The process of revealing the fine hairs; The flattened and dried tea leaves are fed into a low-temperature tea-refining machine and gently vibrated for 6 minutes at 70°C, 15mm amplitude, and 100 times / minute frequency. (7) Fragrance enhancement process; (a) First stage: The tea leaves after the hair-showing process are kept at 90℃ for 60 minutes to enhance their aroma; (b) Second stage: The tea leaves treated in step (a) are kept at 60°C for 100 minutes to enhance their aroma; (c) Third stage: The tea leaves treated in step (b) are kept at 90℃ for 25 minutes to enhance aroma. The aroma is activated and fixed through three processes, resulting in the final product.
[0023] Comparative Example 1 Fresh tea leaves (one bud and one leaf just beginning to unfold, Qiancha No. 1 variety) are flattened and shaped using a traditional reciprocating tea frying machine.
[0024] The tea products processed in Examples 1-3 and Comparative Example 1 were tested, and the results are shown in Table 1. The tea product of Example 1 is shown in Table 1. Figure 1 Comparative Example 1 Product See Figure 2 .
[0025] Table 1 shows the product testing results of tea processed in Examples 1-3 and Comparative Example 1. Flatness and straightness White hairs visible rate Tea polyphenol retention rate amino acid content Example 1 90% 71.6% 86.2% 3.8% Example 2 95% 58.3% 85.3% 3.6% Example 3 97% 40.6% 80.3% 3.6% Comparative Example 1 97% <4% 80.5% 3.6% Sensory evaluations were performed on the tea leaves processed in Examples 1-3 and Comparative Example 1, as shown in Table 2.
[0026] Table 2. Sensory evaluation of tea processed in Examples 1-3 and Comparative Example 1. Sensory evaluation Example 1 The leaves are flat, smooth, uniform, and covered with fine hairs; they are green and lustrous; the aroma is high and lasting; the liquor is bright and tender green; the taste is fresh, mellow, and refreshing; the infused leaves are tender, uniform, and whole, indicating excellent quality. Example 2 Example 3 Comparative Example 1 The aroma has become stale and dull. The embodiments described above are some, but not all, embodiments of the present invention. The detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention, but merely to illustrate selected embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without inventive effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.
Claims
1. A continuous processing method for flat-shaped green tea with prominent white hairs, characterized in that, This includes the spreading process; the compound fixation process; the cooling and rehydration process; the shaping process; the flattening and drying process; the appearance of downy hairs process; and the aroma enhancement process. The composite fixation includes microwave fixation and reciprocating vibration fixation; The flattening and drying process employs a dual-track flattening and drying machine to simultaneously achieve flattening and shaping as well as drying and setting. The method described uses an automated production line to smoothly operate via a conveyor system.
2. The continuous processing method for the flat-shaped green tea with prominent white hairs as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The compound blanching process specifically includes the following steps: (1) Fresh leaves are evenly conveyed to the microwave blanching section by an automatic spreading machine, wherein the microwave frequency is 2450MHz±50Hz and the blanching time is 1~3 minutes; (2) Then enter the reciprocating vibration multi-functional blanching section, with a temperature of 180-240℃, blanching for 3-5 minutes.
3. The continuous processing method for the flat-shaped green tea with prominent white hairs as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The sizing process is performed using a reciprocating vibrating sizing machine, with the following parameters set: Temperature 80-95℃, amplitude 5-10mm, frequency 200-250 times / minute, processing time 5-8 minutes.
4. The continuous processing method for the flat-shaped green tea with prominent white hairs as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The flattening and drying process is carried out using a double-track flattening and drying machine. The upper track of the double-track flattening and drying machine is made of polyurethane material with a hardness ≥ A90 and anti-slip stripes on the surface. The lower track is a heated track; The gap and pressure between the upper track and the lower track are infinitely adjustable via a pneumatic system; The processing parameters are: undertrack temperature 60-80℃, linear pressure between tracks 0.05-0.15MPa, running speed 0.5-2.5m / min, and processing time 8-15 minutes.
5. The continuous processing method for the flat-shaped green tea with prominent white hairs as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The process of revealing the fine hairs involves feeding the flattened and dried tea leaves into a low-temperature hair-refining machine, where they are gently vibrated for 5-8 minutes at 50-65℃, an amplitude of 10-20mm, and a frequency of 60-120 times / minute.
6. The continuous processing method for the flat-shaped green tea with prominent white hairs as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The aroma enhancement process includes the following three stages: (a) First stage: The tea leaves after the hair-showing process are kept at 80-100℃ for 30-60 minutes to enhance their aroma; (b) Second stage: The tea leaves treated in step (a) are kept warm and infused with aroma at a temperature of 60-85℃ for 90-150 minutes; (c) Third stage: The tea leaves treated in step (b) are kept warm and infused with aroma at a temperature of 90-120℃ for 10-25 minutes.
7. A type of flat-shaped green tea with prominent downy hairs, characterized in that, It is prepared using any one of the methods of claims 1 to 6; the flatness and straightness of the green tea with visible white hairs is ≥90%, and the white hair exposure rate is ≥40%.