Abstract: In order to identify tea cultivars with high oil and rich fatty acid compositions, the relevant research on tea seeds of 49 tea cultivars from 9 provinces was carried out. The results show that the oil content of different cultivars were 16.29%-33.80%. The composition and content of fatty acids in tea seed oil were determined by gas chromatography. A total of 19 kinds of fatty acids were detected, among which oleic acid, linoleic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid and α-linolenic acid were the main fatty acids accounting for 46.00%-72.64%, 8.05%-31.05%, 12.02%-18.80%, 2.16%-5.34% and 0.36%-1.20% of the total fatty acids content, respectively. The average ratio of saturated fatty acid, monounsaturated fatty acid and polyunsaturated fatty acid content in different cultivars of tea seed oil was generally 1∶3.04∶1.40. The correlation analysis of fatty acid components shows that cis-oleic acid was negatively correlated with trans-oleic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, while cis-oleic acid was positive correlated with α-linolenic acid and palmitic acid, and trans-oleic acid was negatively correlated with palmitic acid. There were significant differences in fatty acid content in different regions. Based on the present results, ‘Zhongcha 108’ from Zhejiang province, ‘Jinxuan’ from Guangdong province, ‘Xiangbolv 2’ and ‘Zhuyeqi’ could be used as good oil tea cultivars since their seeds have higher fatty acid contents and the proportion of three fatty acids types was more balanced. ‘Baoshan population’, ‘Xiangshanzao’, ‘Jinxuan’ from Hunan province, ‘Zijuan’ and ‘Yunnan wild tea population’ had high unsaturated fatty acid contents, which were suitable for making pharmaceutical and cosmetic oil.

Key words: tea seed, tea seed oil, oil content, fatty acid, composition, content