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Journal of Tea Science ›› 2026, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (2): 238-254.doi: 10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2026.02.002

• Research Paper • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Comparative Study on Resistance Mechanism of Three Etiolated Tea Cultivars Against Empoasca onukii

XIA Luxia1, HAN Shanjie2, HAN Baoyu1,3,*, WANG Mengxin1,*   

  1. 1. College of Life Science, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, China;
    2. College of Quality and Standardization, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, China;
    3. Hangzhou Tea & Chrysanthemum Technology, Co., Ltd., Hangzhou 310018, China
  • Received:2025-07-24 Revised:2025-10-08 Online:2026-04-15 Published:2026-04-22

Abstract: In the past years, the growing area of etiolated tea cultivars has continued to expand, and at the same time, diseases and pests damage have gradually emerged on the cultivars. To explore the resistance mechanism of etiolated tea cultivars against the Empoasca onukii, an important pest, three etiolated local tea cultivars, ‘Huanglongjin’, ‘Huangjinya’ and ‘Dahuangpao’, widely planted in the southwestern Zhejiang Province were selected, with ‘Longjing 43’ as the control. The feeding behavior on these tea cultivars was monitored and compared using the electrical penetration graphy technique, and their resistance was evaluated. Additionally, the differences in volatiles and non-volatile substances among the three etiolated tea cultivars were analyzed and compared between healthy status and 24 hours after leafhopper injury. The feeding behavior analysis indicates that the resistance varied from strong to weak, with ‘Huanglongjin’, ‘Longjing 43’, ‘Huangjinya’ and ‘Dahuangpao’ identified as the most and least resistant cultivars, respectively. Volatiles from tea shoots injured by E. onukii revealed the presence of six components, including α-farnesene, β-ocimene, and 2-methyl-6-methylene-1, 7-octanediene-3-one, detected in all three etiolated tea cultivars pierced and sucked by the leafhopper. The contents of these compounds were found to be highest in ‘Huanglongjin’. Sixteen main differential compounds were screened out from the non-volatile substances of tea plants after leafhopper-injured by using the orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis model. Among them, the contents of threonine, epicatechin gallate (ECG), and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) were significantly and negatively correlated with the duration of the E wave. In contrast, a significant positive correlation was observed between the contents of quercetin, serine, tyrosine, leucine, proline, and the activity of polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and the duration of the E wave. In addition, the contents of both ECG and EGCG in three etiolated tea cultivars following injury by the tea leafhopper were found to be significantly elevated (P<0.05), with the highest levels observed in ‘Huanglongjin’. In conclusion, injury by E. onukii can induce changes in both volatile and non-volatile substances in tea leaves, thereby conferring resistance against leafhoppers. And differences in resistance were observed among three etiolated tea cultivars with ‘Huanglongjin’ showing the strongest resistance.

Key words: Empoasca onukii, etiolated tea cultivars, electrical penetration graphy, insect resistance

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