Enantiomeric distributions of volatile lactones and terpenoids in white teas stored for different durations

•A novel approach was established to analyze 23 chiral volatile components in tea.•The racemic form of dihydroactinidiolide was observed in all stored white teas.•Both enantiomeric ratio and content of S-linalool decreased in stored white teas.•The contents of S/R-dihydroactinidiolide obviously increased in stored white teas. Precise identification of the compounds characteristic to stored white teas is urgently needed as these products have unique flavors and health benefits that improve with storage duration. Owing to the potential applications in food quality discrimination, specific regularities between the enantiomeric distributions of 23 volatile lactones and terpenoids and storage durations of white teas were expected and investigated by enantioselective gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Es-GC-MS) combined with multivariate statistical analysis. High correlation coefficients (−0.853 to 0.695) and significant differences (P