Abstract: Metabolomics is an important part of system biology. It reveals the physiological state of organisms by studing the changes of small molecule metabolites under different conditions. Recently, metabolomics has been widely applied in tea research. This paper reviewed with emphasis the present status of applying metabolomics in tea research including tea quality (producing environment, picking time, effect of processing technology on tea quality and quality evaluation, etc.) and pharmacology (tea function of reducing fat and losing weight, anti-aging, anti-radiation, bioavailability and biotransformation, etc.). Metabolics would play an irreplaceable role in forming and evaluating tea quality.

Key words: tea, metabolomics, quality, pharmacology

摘要： 代谢组学是系统生物学研究的重要组成部分，研究生物体在不同条件下所产生的小分子代谢产物的变化，从而揭示生物体的生理状态。近年来代谢组学技术在茶叶相关研究领域得到广泛应用，着重论述了代谢组学在茶叶品质（产地环境、采摘时间、加工工艺对品质的影响以及品质评价等）与药理（茶叶的降脂减肥、延缓衰老、抗辐射、生物利用度与生物转化等）等领域的应用现状，代谢组学技术将在茶叶品质形成及评价、茶叶功效等方面发挥不可替代的作用。

关键词: 茶叶, 代谢组学, 品质, 药理