Journal of Tea Science

Research Progress of Tea Polysaccharides in Regulating Obesity

OUYANG Jian, ZHOU Fang, LU Danmin, LI Xiuping, HUANG Jian'an, LIU Zhonghua

Journal of Tea Science. 2020, 40(5): 565-575. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2020.05.001

Abstract ( 695 )

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With the improvement of people's living standards, the incidence of obesity has been rising, which has become a serious health problem of the society. Tea polysaccharide, as an acid heteropolysaccharide combined with protein, can regulate food intake and energy absorption, regulate adipogenesis, enhance antioxidant defense enzyme activities and reduce inflammation, regulate intestinal flora disorders and maintain different pathways such as intestinal barrier integrity, thereby effectively regulates obesity. The regulation mechanism of tea polysaccharides on obesity was reviewed based on the researches in recent years.

Early Identification of Nitrogen Absorption Efficiency in Tea Plants

SU Jingjing, RUAN Li, WANG Liyuan, WEI Kang, WU Liyun, BAI Peixian, CHENG Hao

Journal of Tea Science. 2020, 40(5): 576-587. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2020.05.002

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Nitrogen is one of the most important elements for tea plants, and it has been over supplied in tea gardens, which not only results in the waste of resources, but also causes a series of environmental problems. Therefore, to breed tea cultivars with high nitrogen efficiency, it is necessary to establish an early detection of nitrogen usage rates which could be developed for screening the strains of tea plants. This study analyzed the absorption and utilization of ammonia nitrogen and nitrate nitrogen in two tea cultivars Longjing 43 (LJ43) and Zhongcha 108 (ZC108) under different nitrogen levels. The ¹⁵N isotope labeling technology was applied to verify the feasibility and practicability of non-invasive micro-test technology (NMT) and real-time fluorescence quantitative (qRT-PCR) technology in early identification of nitrogen absorption and utilization abilities of tea lines. The purpose of this study was to establish an indoor early identification technology of nitrogen absorption efficiency for tea plants. The results show that the accuracy, stability and repeatability of ¹⁵N were 85.16%, 89.51% and 99.26% respectively. While the accuracy, stability and repeatability of NMT were 91.35%, 95.22% and 96.76% respectively. The two methods showed that tea plants had obvious ammonium preference. Moreover, the expressions of nitrate transporter genes CsNRT3.2 and CsNRT2.4 were up-regulated by nitrogen in both cultivars. Compared with ZC108, the expressions of CsNRT2.4 and CsNRT3.2 in LJ43 were higher, indicating that the response of LJ43 to external nitrogen applications was higher than that of ZC108. Finally, it was preliminarily summarized that the NMT technology could measure the instantaneous absorption rate of tea plants in a short time with little loss of experimental materials. It might also be applied for the early detection of the instantaneous nitrogen absorption rates of tea plants. Meanwhile, the results also show that the expressions of CsNRT2.4 and CsNRT3.2 could partly reflect the nitrogen absorption ability of tea plants. This study provided a basis to develop techniques in early identification of high nitrogen-efficient cultivars in tea plants.

Influences of Arbuscular Myrorrhizal Fungi on Plant Growth and Tea Quality of Fuding Dabaicha Seedlings under Different Water Conditions

WANG Yujuan, GAO Xiubing, WU Qiangsheng, JI Daobao, CAI Fan, LIU Chunyan

Journal of Tea Science. 2020, 40(5): 588-596. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2020.05.003

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In order to evaluate the effect of an arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi on the plant growth performance and tea quality of FudingDabaicha under different water conditions, Fuding Dabaicha seedlings inoculated with (+AMF) or without AMF (-AMF) Clariodeoglous etunicatum were evaluated in a pot experiment under drought (DS) and well-watered (WW) conditions. Plant growth performance and quality parameter such as leaf number, biomass, contents of sucrose, fructose, catechuic acid, amino acid, etc. were determined. The results showed that under WW and DS conditions, AMF inoculation markedly promoted plant growth and improved the tea quality, in particularly increased leaf numbers, biomass of each part (leaf, stem and root), and the contents of sucrose, glucose, fructose, catechuic acid, amino acids and tea polyphenols were significantly increased by 7.73%-21.92%, 28.49%-53.44%, 6.13%-9.59%, 18.97%-23.48%. 31.29%-39.11% and 6.77%-26.32% in Fuding Dabaicha seedlings compared with non-AMF seedlings, especially under drought stress condition. Meanwhile, drought stress (DS) significantly restrained root AM colonization and the plant growth of Fuding Dabaicha seedlings, and markedly decreased the quality of FudingDabaicha seedlings, whereas, AMF inoculation significantly relieved this inhibitory effect, promoted the accumulation of tea organic matters. In addition, AMF-colonized seedlings presented higher expressions of glutamate dehydrogenase gene (CsGDH), glutamine oxoglutarate aminotransferase gene (CsGOGAT) and 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme gene (CsHMGR) under drought stress condition. The results indicated that AMF inoculation could promote plant growth and improve tea quality by means of up-regulation of relevant gene expression in Fuding Dabaicha seedlings under different water conditions, especially under drought stress.

Effects of Exogenous 5-aminolevulinic Acid on Photosynthetic and Physiological Characteristics of Tea Plants under Low Temperature Stress

YAN Fei, JIANG Wenhua, QU Dong, FU Jing, ZHAO Xuan

Journal of Tea Science. 2020, 40(5): 597-606. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2020.05.004

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In order to explore the effects of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) on photosynthetic and physiological characteristics of tea plants under natural low temperature stress in winter, we sprayed 0, 10, 30mg·L^-1 and 50 mg·L^-1 ALA on ‘Shaancha 1’ (low temperature tolerant cultivar) and ‘Jinmudan’ (low temperature sensitive cultivar). The results show that ALA of suitable concentration could improve net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, intercellular CO₂ concentration, transpiration rate, maximum photochemical efficiency of PSⅡ and potential activity of PSⅡ. Moreover, ALA treatment could promote the accumulations of water extract, caffeine, free amino acids, catechins, theanine, soluble sugar and protein contents. Exogenous ALA could improve the photosynthetic capacity and tea quality under low temperature stress. ALA treatment (50 mgL^-1) could effectively improve the cold tolerance of ‘Shaancha 1’. While 10 mg·L^-1 and 30 mg·L^-1 ALA treatment had effects on the relief of low temperature stress in ‘Jinmudan’.

Technical Approach of Saving and Improving Efficiency of Chemical Fertilizers in Dancong Tea Area of Guangdong

ZHOU Bo, CHEN Qin, CHEN Hanlin, TANG Hao, LI Jianlong, CHEN Jialin, CHEN Yiyong, LIU Jiayu, TANG Jinchi

Journal of Tea Science. 2020, 40(5): 607-616. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2020.05.005

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The study of four technical modes of saving and improving efficiency of chemical fertilizers were carried out through field trials. Soil fertility, tea yield and quality were investigated. After that, the fertilizer agronomic efficiency and comprehensive economic benefits were compared and analyzed. The results show that, the four technical approaches could reduce chemical fertilizer input by 20%-30% (reduce total nutrient input by 17%-0) without reducing fresh tea leaves yield. Tea qualities were slightly improved and the annual economic benefits were increased by 15.1-32.6 thousand CNY. Among four technical modes, the controlled-release fertilizer model had the highest agronomic efficiency and comprehensive economic benefits, increasing by 58.0% and 10.9% respectively compared to the control. The organic substitution model had the most significant quality improvement, with an increase of 10.2% in amino acids, 9.6% in soluble sugars, and a decrease of 13.4% in phenol-ammonia ratio. In summary, the two technical approach models of controlled release fertilizer and organic substitution in this study had good adaptabilities in Dancong tea area of Guangdong, and could be promoted and applied.

Effects on the Photoreaction Behavior of Ectropis Grisescens Warren to Different Light Spectrum

QIAO Li, HONG Feng, JIN Yinli, GENG Shubao, GUO Shibao

Journal of Tea Science. 2020, 40(5): 617-624. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2020.05.006

Abstract ( 696 )

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The study aims to get the sensitive spectral range of Ectropis grisescens Warren to different light spectrum. The phototaxis or photophobism behavior of E. grisescens Warren in response to spectral sensitivity was tested under 18 monochromatic lights ranging from 370 nm to 600 nm in the laboratory. The results show that phototaxis or photophobism reaction were observed under all the tested monochromatic wavelengths between 370 nm and 600 nm spectrum. The female adults showed positive phototaxis under orange light (600-605 nm), green light (520-525 nm) and ultraviolet light (370-375 nm). Meanwhile the male adults showed phototaxis under green light (520-525 nm), ultraviolet light (395-400 nm) and ultraviolet light (390-395 nm). The female adults showed photophobia under ice indigo light (490-495 nm), blue light (440-450 nm) and red light (660-665 nm). Meanwhile the male adults showed photophobia under ultraviolet light (400-405 nm), blue light (440-450 nm), ice indigo light (490-495 nm) and CK. There are differences inphototaxis of E. grisescens Warren to light at different wavelengths, and gender is an important factor affecting the spectral behavior response. This study not only provided a necessary theoretical foundation for further research on light vision of E. grisescens Warren, but also provided a scientific basis for the use of phototaxis in the integrated management of E. grisescens Warren.

The Comparison of Leaf Structures and Empoasca Onukii Matsuda Honeydew Excretion among Five Tea Cultivars (Strains)

LIU Fengjing, RAN Wei, LI Xiwang, WANG Suqin, SUN Xiaoling

Journal of Tea Science. 2020, 40(5): 625-631. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2020.05.008

Abstract ( 736 )

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The food consumptions of Empoasca onukii female adults feeding on the leaves of five tea cultivars (strains) were compared by weighing the honeydew excretion after 24 h. The leaf structures and colors of five tea cultivars (strains) were also compared. Further analysis illustrated the relationship between plant resistance to E.onukii and leaf structures. The results show that: (1) the food consumption of female adults feeding on cv. Zhongxuan 10 was significantly lower than those feeding on other cultivars (strains), and there was no significant difference between the male and female adults. (2) The leaf area, blade thickness, upper skin thickness, lower skin thickness and chromatic aberration of different tea cultivars (strains) had little effect on E. onukii’s honeydew excretion. The density of leaf pubescence was negatively correlated to the honeydew excretion, but the length of leaf pubescence had a positive correlation with the honeydew excretion.

Theaflavin Activates Nrf2/HO-1 Pathway to Alleviate Oxidative Stress Injury in Vascular Endothelial Cells

ZENG Jie, DENG Zhihui, FU Hongjuan, LIU Chang, GU Yi, ZOU Yixin, CHANG Hui

Journal of Tea Science. 2020, 40(5): 632-640. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2020.05.009

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To investigate the protective effect of theaflavin (TF) on injury of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) induced by hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), HUVECs were divided into control group, injury group (0.2 mmol·L^-1H₂O₂ treatment) and TF pretreatment groups (2.0, 5.0, 10.0 μmol·L^-1+0.2 mmol·L^-1H₂O₂ treatment). The TF pretreatment groups were pretreated with TF for 2 h. Then, both the injury group and the TF groups were treated with H₂O₂ for 24 h, while the control group was treated with solvent. Cells activity was detected by the MTT method. The levels of lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), nitric oxide (NO), malondialdehyde (MDA) and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were measured by corresponding detection kits. Reactive oxygen species (ROS), cells apoptosis and protein expression levels were detected using DCFH-DA dying, flow cytometer and Western blot. The results show that cells activity was dramatically decreased in the injury group, and the levels of LDH, cellular ROS, MDA and cells apoptosis increased, while the level of NO and the activities of antioxidant enzymes were declined. TF pretreatment could increase cells’ viability, decrease the level of LDH, maintain the level of NO, and inhibit the increments of ROS and MDA, as well as cells apoptosis. Further study indicated that TF treatment could activate Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway, and the inhibitor of Nrf2 could reduce the protective effects of TF on HUVEC cells. In conclusion, TF could alleviate oxidative stress injury in vascular endothelial cells induced by H₂O₂. The mechanism is at least partly associated with the activation of Nrf2/HO-1 pathway.

Improvement of White Tea on Cigarette Smoke-induced Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Mice

LI Pan, ZHOU Hui, CAI Meisheng, KIM Eunhye, LIU Xiaobo, HE Puming, TU Youying

Journal of Tea Science. 2020, 40(5): 641-655. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2020.05.010

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Sixty ICR mice were randomly divided into normal control group, model control group, Shoumei group, Baimudan group, Baihaoyinzhen group and epigallocatechin gallate group (EGCG). Chronic obstructive pulmonary (COPD) model of mice was established by smoking method. Three kinds of white tea water extracts and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) were administered by intragastric administration and sacrificed after five weeks, and plasma, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, lung tissue and liver tissue were collected to determine the pathological changes of lung tissue and the biochemical indicators of each group. The improvement effect and mechanism of white tea on COPD in mice were shown as follows: (1) In the model group, a large amount of pathological damage such as inflammatory infiltration and goblet cell metaplasia appeared in the lung tissue. Both white tea extracts and EGCG treatment could obviously improve the pathological damage of the lung tissue, and the Baihaoyinzhen extract had the best effect. (2) Model group showed obvious oxidative stress and inflammation. The levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) increased significantly, and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) decreased significantly. Both white tea extracts and EGCG treatment could significantly reduce MDA, IL-6 and TNF-α levels and up-regulate SOD activity. (3) The nitric oxide (NO) level of plasma and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity of lung tissues increased significantly in model group, on the contrary NO level decreased in BALF and lung tissues. Both the white tea extracts and the EGCG could improve NO disorders and reduced MPO activity. (4) Both white tea extracts and EGCG could improve the decline of phosphorylation level of adenosine monophosphate-dependent protein kinase (AMPK) in COPD mice. No liver toxicity of white tea extracts or EGCG was found in mice under treatments. In summary, white tea extracts could obviously improve cigarette smoke-induced COPD in mice by anti-oxidation, anti-inflammatory and regulating NO abnormalities.

Comparison and Analysis of Characteristic Aroma Components of Eight Main Jasmine Teas in Fuzhou

FU Tianlong, GUO Chen, FU Tianpu, PENG Shanshan, LIN Xingrong, RAO Genghui, CHEN Nan, ZHANG Junjie

Journal of Tea Science. 2020, 40(5): 656-664. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2020.05.011

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In this study, the simultaneous distillation and extraction method and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used to determine the aroma components of eight different jasmine teas in Fuzhou. At the same time, the internal standard method was used to determine the relative content of each aroma, and the results were compared and analyzed. The results show that there were more than 47-55 kinds of volatile components with 26 common volatile components, including alcohols, aldehydes, esters, acids, ketones, phenyl, heterocyclic compounds, hydrocarbons and a small amount of other compounds. The range of terpene index was 0.937-0.970. The range of JTF index was 2.752-5.632. According to the comprehensive assessment, the grades of eight jasmine teas were evaluated. As a whole, jasmine Longya, jasmine Zhenwang and ecological scented tea had the highest quality, followed by jasmine Yinhao, jasmine Longhao, and jasmine Dabaihao, while the qualities of jasmine Bailongzhu and premium scented tea were the lowest. The results of this study provided a theoretical basis for distinguishing jasmine tea quality in Fuzhou effectively.

Differences in Volatile Aroma Compositions among Four Quality Grades of Mountain Lu'an Guapian Tea

FAN Peizhen, PAN Cheng, WANG Mengxin, CUI Lin, HAN Baoyu

Journal of Tea Science. 2020, 40(5): 665-675. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2020.05.012

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In order to thoroughly investigate aroma volatile compositions of the historically famous Lu'an Guapian tea, and evaluate their differences among the four quality grades: the super grade, the first grade, the second grade and the third grade, the tea samples processed in the internal mountains of Lu'an, Anhui Province, China were collected and analyzed. Essential oils from each of the four grades of tea samples were extracted by simultaneous distillation extraction (SDE), and then analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The volatile aroma constituents were identified by comparison of mass spectra and retention times with those of authentic standards, and quantified by their relative abundances to the internal standard, ethyl decanoate. A total of 96 aromatic compounds were identified from the four grade teas, including 20 alcohols, 18 esters, 17 alkenes, 16 aldehydes, 12 ketones, 7 heterocyclic compounds and a few organic acids. The major aromatic constituents were linalool, geraniol, cis-nerolidol, β-ionone, cis-3-hexenyl hexanoate, benzaldehyde, n-hexadecanoic acid, linalool oxide I, β-cyclocitral, α-ionone, Z-3-hexen-1-ol, heptanal and nonanal. The numbers and total abundances relative to the internal standard of these identified aromatic constituents from the super grade, the 1st grade, the 2nd grade and the 3rd grade were 79/695.94, 60/579.90, 55/541.69, and 47/268.50, respectively. Both the numbers and total abundances were positively related to the tea quality. The tea quality was positively correlated with the number and abundance of aromatic compounds. Conversely, the major aroma components, linalool, cis-nerolidol, α-ionone, β-ionone and cis-3-hexenyl hexanoate, were significantly reduced with the tea quality grades decreased. It was concluded that the high contents of diversified aromatic constituents, especially their major identified constituents in the Lu'an Guapian teas are probably responsible for its overall pleasant and refreshing scent and flavor. However, there were still significant differences in both aromatic constituents and their total abundances, thus also the fragrances, among the four quality grades.

Study on Quality of Mechanical Production and Numerical Control Fermentation of Puer Tea

ZHAO Miaomiao, HE Lunan, LI Guo, YI Chao, LIU Xueyan, LUO Chaoguang, LYU Caiyou

Journal of Tea Science. 2020, 40(5): 676-688. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2020.05.013

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In order to study the feasibility of mechanical production of Puer tea, solar-drying green tea was processed according to ‘mechanized standardized production line for solar-drying green tea’, and fermented by the numerical control fermentation system developed by Pu’er Tea Thoroughbred Farm. Samples were collected in each process during production. Methods like electronic nose, GC-MS, HPLC combined with sensory evaluation were applied to analyze the changes of the components and aroma substances during the mechanization production of solar-drying green tea, which could provide a reference for mechanized processing and industrial upgrading of Puer tea. The results show that the evaluation results of the batch samples met the national standards, and the mechanized production of Puer tea was feasible. In the process of the numerical control fermentation, the contents of catechins, GA, water extract, tea polyphenols and amino acids showed a decreasing trend, while the content of caffeine increased. The results of GC-MS and electronic nose show that the aroma substances were significantly different from other samples during the first stacking. As the types of aroma substances increased during the numerical control fermentation, the relative contents of aroma substances decreased. The aroma substances mainly included alcohols, aromatic hydrocarbons, ketones and aldehydes. Moreover, the aromatic hydrocarbon-like aroma substances were detected to be rich.

Establishment of Predictive Model for Quantitative Analysis of Tea Polyphenols and Caffeine of Souchong by Near Infrared Spectroscopy

LU Li, CHENG Xi, ZHANG Bo, SHEN Xiaoxia, LIU Yan, XIONG Li, YUAN Xiao, LI Yuanhua, LI Xinghui

Journal of Tea Science. 2020, 40(5): 689-695. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2020.05.014

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A total of 76 representative Souchong samples were studied. Quantitative models of tea polyphenols and caffeine of Souchong were established respectively by partial least squares (PLS). The chemical values of tea polyphenols and caffeine of 76 Souchong samples were measured by Chinese National Standard methods, combined with the near infrared spectrum. The results show that the R² and RMSEC values of tea polyphenols of calibration set were 97.59% and 0.566%. And the R² and RMSEP values of validation set were 95.06% and 0.855%. The R² and RMSEC values of caffeine of calibration set were 96.98% and 0.110%. And the R² and RMSEP values of validation set were 95.67% and 0.148%. The quantitative models had good prediction results, and could be used for rapid evaluation of the contents of tea polyphenols and caffeine in Souchong.

Analysis on the Impact Factors and Hierarchical Structure of the Farmers’ Adoption of Tea Ecological Pest Management by Logistic-ISM Model

ZHENG Rongrong, LIU Luxing, MA Yanli, WANG Zishuai, CHEN Shaoyou, HE Dunchun, XIE Lianhui

Journal of Tea Science. 2020, 40(5): 696-706. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2020.05.015

Abstract ( 668 )

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Tea is one of important economic crops in China. Tea pest management is the key to ensure the quantity and its added value. The conventional pest management mode had contributed to saving the amounts of tea but resulted in the pollution dilemma of tea and ecology simultaneously. In contrast, the ecological management mode can alleviate the pollution and increase the safety of tea and farmers’ revenue. However, promotion of the mode was limited in practice. Hence, it is an urgent scientific topic to ascertain the factors and its interaction mechanism of tea farmers’ adoption of the ecological pest management. In this study, the 517 tea farmers were selected randomly in five counties of Fujian province according to the designed questionnaire and some available data were collected to analyze the significant factors affecting tea farmers’ adoption of ecological pest management technology by the Logistic Regression Model. The hierarchy and inner logic relations of these significant factors were then discovered by the Interpretative Structural Modeling (ISM). The results show that tea farmers’ adoption was significantly influenced by three hierarchy factors. The direct factors included annual tea revenue, sales model, frequency of technical training, frequency of government casual inspection and degree of pest occurrence of previous years. The intermediate factors included cognition of cost and benefit change of applying new technology, cooperative member or not and size of tea garden. The basic factors included education level and age. Finally, some suggestions for the promotion of tea ecological pest management were proposed according to these impact factors and their relationships.

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