Screening of the Fermentation Strains for the Bitterness-removing Lotus Leaf Tea and Its Process Optimization

In order to develop a lotus leaf tea with good bitterness-removing effect, the lotus leaf was used as the research object, and inoculated with three different hyphae of Ganoderma lucidum, Hericium erinaceus and Flammulina velutiper. Then, the optimal fermentation hypha for the bitterness-removing lotus leaf tea was screened by measuring the growth rate of hyphae, the quercetin content and the tannin content. The results showed that the growth rate of Ganoderma lucidum mycelium in the lotus leaf tea was the fastest, and after the fermentation, the contents of quercetin and tannin were reduced by 18.37% and 79.54%, respectively, which had the best effect among the three kinds of hyphae, indicating that Ganoderma lucidum mycelium was the most suitable fermentation mycelium for the lotus leaf tea. The sensory evaluation of the fermented lotus leaf tea and two kinds of common lotus leaf tea sold on the market was carried out, and the evaluation data showed that the sensory quality of the fermented lotus leaf tea was better than that of the common lotus leaf tea sold on the market. At last, the optimum technology for the removal of bitterness and fermentation of lotus leaf tea was determined as follows: the inoculation volume of 15.0 mL, the fermentation time of 8 days, and the fermentation temperature of(28±1)℃.