Journal of Tea Science

Advances in Tea Plant Genetics and Breeding

LIANG Yuerong, SHI Meng

Journal of Tea Science. 2015, 35(2): 103-109. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2015.02.001

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Advances in germplasm enhancement of tea breeding, techniques for identification of new tea cultivars, changes in breeding objectives, improvement of breeding program, achievements of tea breeding, system of propagation and extension of new tea cultivars were reviewed in this paper, which provides useful information for further studies in tea genetics and breeding. Hybridization is still the major method for innovating tea breeding materials, and the physical and chemical mutagenesis methods have been extensively used, while transgenic technique remains to be further improved. Combination of the high resolution inspecting equipments and the gene identification technology with the forecasting models established by computer technology made the early identification of tea cultivars more accurate. The breeding target has been diversified after going through yield breeding, quality breeding and early flushing breeding stages. Improving early identification accuracy and shortening breeding cycle will be the aim for tea breeding technology development.

Research Progress of Soil Properties in Tea Gardens and the Absorption and Translocation Mechanisms of Nutrients and Other Elements in Tea Plant

LIU Meiya, YI Xiaoyun, SHI Yuanzhi, MA Lifeng, RUAN Jianyun

Journal of Tea Science. 2015, 35(2): 110-120. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2015.02.002

Abstract ( 576 )

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The soil conditions of tea plantations as well as the management of water and fertilizers are requisites for tea plant growth and quality construction. This paper reviewed the research progresses in the recent five years on the topics of the dynamics of soil properties of tea gardens, the functions of nutrients associating with the metabolism of tea quality related components and the underneath molecular mechanisms, the management technologies of nutrition, heavy metals and rare earth elements in tea soils and their accumulation in plants. In addition to the works of the dynamics of organic matter in tea soil following the establishment of tea plantation, the contribution of carbon storage in tea ecosystems to the global C cycling has been highlighted. Molecular biological approaches are increasingly applied in the study of the community and evolvement of microbes in tea soils. Meanwhile advances in the evaluation of soil quality, the mechanism and ameliorative measures of soil acidification have been made. The recent progresses in the area of nutrition have greatly deepened our understandings of the functions of nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium on the metabolism of tea quality components. The characteristics of nutrient absorption were elucidated at molecular and physiological levels and putative genes of several nutrient transporters were cloned. Adoption of mechanical fertilization, fertigation and controlled releasing chemical fertilizers were recommended as measures of nutrient management to improve utilization efficiency while the environmental impacts of fertilization such as emission of greenhouse gases gained considerable focus. On the other hand, progresses were made in the field of safety of tea products as heavy metals in the soils of tea plantations and accumulation of these elements in the tea plants are concerned.

Research Progress in Flavor Chemistry of Chinese Dark Tea

HE Huafeng, ZHU Hongkai, DONG Chunwang, YE Yang, GUI Anhui, GAO Mingzhu

Journal of Tea Science. 2015, 35(2): 121-129. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2015.02.003

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As the unique kind of tea, Chinese dark tea characterize with the tasty and stale aroma which refers to the pile fermentation. This review summarized the recent progress in flavor chemistry research of Chinese dark tea. Analyzed with the chemistry property of the aroma components, derivatives of methoxyl benzene and allylaldehyde were clarified as the characteristic components of the flavor of Chinese dark tea. Subsequently, as well as microorganism, the effect of the processing procedure, such as pile fermentation, drying, storage and et al, on the aroma quality were declared. Also, the affection of the raw material and the extraction method of flavor were indicated. Therefore, separation and characterization of the characteristic flavor compounds, the transformation mechanism of the functional group on the skeleton of aroma molecular and the participation of microorganism in the formation of the flavor of Chinese dark tea will be the research topic in future.

Review on Pro-oxidative Properties of EGCG on Cell

CHEN Yijun, XIONG Ligui, HUANG Jian′an, GONG Yushun, LIU Zhonghua

Journal of Tea Science. 2015, 35(2): 130-136. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2015.02.004

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EGCG, which is the most abundant catechin in tea, has been demonstrated to possess a wide range of biochemical and pharmacological activities. Recent investigations have revealed that EGCG functions as a pro-oxidant. In this review, we discussed the pro-oxidative mechanism of EGCG in cell culture. Auto-oxidation of EGCG, influenced by the media types, dose- and time-dependent of EGCG addition, contents of serum and pH value etc., forms environmental oxidative stress in cell medium. Furthermore, EGCG produce intracellular ROS and mtROS, and trigger the Fenton reaction to create OH^- indirectly. In particular, pro-oxidation of EGCG regulate intracellular transcription factors, signalling pathways, and cell surface receptor to exert many biological actions in cell.

Analysis of Optical Isomers of Linalool in Tea Aromatic Components

YANG Ting, ZHU Yin, LYU Haipeng, MA Chengying, ZHANG Yue, SHI Jiang, LIU Shuang, LIN Zhi

Journal of Tea Science. 2015, 35(2): 137-144. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2015.02.005

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Linalool is one of the most important tea aroma components with high content, and it has two optical isomers, namely 3R-(-)-Linalool and 3S-(+)-Linalool, both show entirely different aroma qualities. In this study, a method using chiral chromatographic column and based on headspace solid-phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME) was developed to analyze 3R-(-)-Linalool and 3S-(+)-Linalool in green tea and black tea samples. Results showed that 3R-(-)-Linalool and 3S-(+)-Linalool isomers were existed in green and black tea. The ratio of the relative content of 3S-(+)-Linalool to that of 3R-(-)-Linalool in green tea ranged from 2.07 to 14.05, with an average ratio of the relative content of 5.21, while, the ratio varied greatly in steamed green tea, roasted green tea and baking green tea. The ratio of the relative content of 3S-(+)-Linalool and 3R-(-)-Linalool were the highest in baking green tea (8.05), with the lowest in steamed green tea (2.72), and 4.78 in roasted green tea. The ratio of the relative content of 3S-(+)-Linalool to that of 3R-(-)-Linalool in black tea ranged from 0.65 to 0.82, with an average ratio of the relative content of 0.74. The ratio of the two optical isomers during the processing of green and black tea was analyzed as well, with the highest found following de-enzyme stage during the processing of green tea and following 2 h fermentation of black tea (5.78 and 1.59 respectively). Fresh leaves of 12 tea cultivars were also analyzed. Moreover, it varied greatly in different tea cultivars.

Comparison on the Pretreatment Methods of Tea and Tea Polysaccharides for Determination of Fluorine Content

ZHU Xiaojing, FANG Fengxiang, ZHANG Yuehua, NI Dejiang, CHEN Yuqiong

Journal of Tea Science. 2015, 35(2): 145-150. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2015.02.006

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The influence of sample pretreatment methods including boiling water extraction (BWE),acidic solution extraction (ASE) and alkalizing and burning to ash(ABA) on fluorine content in tea and tea polysaccharides was investigated. The results showed that the fluorine contents of tea and tea polysaccharide pretreated with ABA were much higher than that of BWE and ASE method (P<0.01). The fluorine content of tea pretreated with BWE was significantly higher than ASE (P<0.05, P<0.01). The further test on precision and recovery of ABA and fluoride ion selective electrode method was investigated. Results showed that the recovery of fluorine in tea and tea polysaccharide were 91.07%-94.40% and 83.04%-90.32%, respectively, with RSD of 1.44%-2.54% for tea and 0.68%-1.03% for tea polysaccharide, which indicated the result of fluorine determination by this method could represent the real fluorine content in tea and tea polysaccharide with accuracy, reliability and stability. It was also suggested that the ABA and fluoride ion selective electrode method could be more suitable for determination of total fluorine in tea and tea extracts.

Study on Correction Coefficient of a New Anthrone Sulfuric Acid Method for Determination of Polysaccharides in Tea (Camellia sinensis) Flower

ZHANG Xinghai, XU Jinwei, ZHOU Xiaohong, YU Peili, TU Youying

Journal of Tea Science. 2015, 35(2): 151-157. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2015.02.007

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：A method for correction coefficient of anthrone sulfuric acid to detect the polysaccharides in tea flower was established. According to the law of conservation of mass and normal anthrone sulfuric acid method determination of polysaccharide, correction coefficient for a new detection method of anthrone sulfuric acid (f) was constructed through the combined use of ion chromatography technology, which laid the foundation for the tea flower polysaccharide detection technology with fast, accurate and objective charcteristics. The results showed that the correction coefficient were 2.84 and 4.49 when galactose and glucose were used as standard reference substance respectively. The method had good stability (RSD_glucose=1.7%, RSD_galactose=1.0%), high precision (RSD_glucose=1.4%, RSD_galactose=2.0%), strong repeatability (RSD_glucose=3.2%, RSD_galactose=2.5%) and well recovery (recovery_glucose=91.3%-104.1%, recovery_galactose=95.9%-104.4%). Tea flower polysaccharide contents determined by the new method were 10.30%, 10.07% and 9.99% respectively in samples from Anhui, Sichuan and Zhejiang provinces, which were higher than the value determined by conventional anthrone sulfuric acid method. Monosaccharide composition analysis of polysaccharides in tea flower showed that galactose was better to be used as standard reference.

The Study of Hypoglycemic Effect of Pu′er Tea Extract Combined with Pioglitazone

HU Jinfang, WANG Genbei, XU Yan, MA Xiaohui, LI Changwen, SHEN Xiuping

Journal of Tea Science. 2015, 35(2): 158-164. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2015.02.008

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The aim of this study was to investigate the hypoglycemic effect of Pu′er tea extract combined with pioglitazone on diabetic model rat induced by STZ and clarify the synergistic effect of Pu′er tea extract with hypoglycemic drugs and the amount of hypoglycemic drugs could be reduced under the premise to control blood glucose. According to the blood glucose levels and the different ways of Pu′er tea extract combined with pioglitazone, all animals were divided into different groups including control, model, high P, low P, HP+LPTE, HP+HPTE, LP+LPTE, LP+HPTE, orally administered twice a day for consecutive 4 weeks. Animals’ status was observed during the test, and rat tail veins were weekly acupunctured to measure fasting blood glucose. The glucose tolerance, GSP and insulin levels in serum were determined in fourth week and insulin sensitivity index was calculated. The results showed that Pu′er tea extract combined with mixed medication pioglitazone could significantly suppress fasting blood glucose, lower blood glucose at 30βmin, 60βmin, 120βmin after administration of glucose, and reduce the AUC as compared with other groups. Additionally, serum GSP levels were also reduced after treatment with Pu′er tea extract combined with pioglitazone. These results suggest that pioglitazone combined with pu′er tea extract could reduce the amount of pioglitazone without reducing pioglitazone’s hypoglycemic effect.

Research on Combined Anti-hypertensive Effect of Pu'er Tea Extract and Nifedipine

LI Yanchuan, LI Xinxin, ZHOU Wangyi, LI Changwen, MA Xiaohui

Journal of Tea Science. 2015, 35(2): 165-170. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2015.02.009

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To explore combined anti-hypertensive effect of Pu'er tea extract and Nifedipine in SHR, 50 SHR rats were randomly divided into different model groups, N.L group, N.H group, N.L+D.L group and N.L+D.H group, 10 rats for each group. Wistar rats were selected as control group. Pu'er tea extract and Nifedipine were administered to SHR for 4 weeks. The blood pressure was measured once per week. Results showed that mean blood pressure was significantly reduced in spontaneous hypertension rats after treatment with 6.2βmg·kg^-1 nifedipine, compared with model controls (P<0.05). The 3.1βmg·kg^-1 nifedipine also has a tendency to decrease blood pressure. Combined antihypertensive effect of Pu'er tea extract and nifedipine was enhanced compared with nifedipine alone. The nifedipine showed anti-hypertensive effect on spontaneous hypertension rats in a dose-dependent manner. Pu'er tea extract can enhance the antihypertensive effect of nifedipine, and showed a certain degree of protective on heart.

Research on the Inhibitory Effect of EGCG on Nicotine in Inducing H1299 Cancer Cell JAK2/STAT3 mRNA Expression

GAO Jin, YU Lijun, LI Xiaohuan, GAO Peng, ZHOU Qingming

Journal of Tea Science. 2015, 35(2): 171-178. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2015.02.010

Abstract ( 393 )

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In order to explore the inhibitory effect of EGCG on nicotine which induced lung cancer cells proliferation, this study selected the optimal concentrations of EGCG and nicotine on lung adenocarcinoma cancer cell H1299 by MTT experiment, and detected mRNA relative expression levels of Bax, Bcl-2, Jak2 and Stat3 genes in H1299 cells using qRT-PCR technique. Experiment results showed that the IC₅₀ of EGCG on H1299 lung adenocarcinoma cells is about 32βμmol·L^-1 (treated 48βh) and 15βμmol·L^-1 (treated 24βh), nicotine obviously promotes the proliferation of H1299 lung adenocarcinoma cell at 1βμmol·L^-1 concentration treatment. Pretreatment of H1299 cells with 15βμmol·L^-1 EGCG (24βh) can significantly down-regulate the promotion of proliferation induced by 1βμmol·L^-1 Nicotine (P<0.05). Using 1βμmol·L^-1 nicotine to treat H1299 cells has showed that nicotine significantly reduce the mRNA expression level of Bax gene, increase the mRNA expression levels of Bcl-2, Jak2 and Stat3 genes in the JAK2/STAT3 signal pathway. Pretreatment of H1299 cells with 15βμmol·L^-1 EGCG (24βh) can be observed that EGCG significantly retroregulated the mRNA expression levels of Bax,Bcl-2,Jak2 and Stat3 genes in the JAK2/STAT3 signal pathway,and got the results with significant differences (P<0.05). In conclusion,EGCG plays important role in suppressing the survival rates of H1299 cells and mRNA expression level of JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway induced by nicotine.

tudy of Pu′er Raw Materials Grade Classification by PCA and PLS-DA

LIU Binqiu, CHEN Xiaoquan, WU Xiaogang, ZHANG Wei, WANG Zihao

Journal of Tea Science. 2015, 35(2): 179-184. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2015.02.011

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Two classification methods for Pu′er raw materials were explored using principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), and the important physical and chemical compositions were identified through the statistical analysis. The results revealed that both PCA and PLS-DA could directly classify the grades of Pu′er raw materials, particularly for the grade 3, but not for that of grade 6 and 9. The PCA loadings plot and PLS-DA variable important for the projection plot indicated that the contents of amino acids were the important physical and chemical components for classification. Lysine (Lys), proline (Pro) and phenylalanine (Phe) were three most important physical and chemical compositions.

Scanning Electron Microscopic Observations of Antennal Sensilla of Tea Stick Thrips (Dendrothrips minowai Priesner)

LYU Zhaoyun, ZHI Junrui, ZHOU Yufeng, MENG Zehong, ZHANG Jun, YANG Guangming

Journal of Tea Science. 2015, 35(2): 185-195. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2015.02.013

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The type, distribution and ultrastructure of sensilla on the antennae of nymph, pupa, adult female and male of Dendrothrips minowai Priesner thrips were observed under the scanning electron microscope (SEM). Results showed that nine kinds of sensors existed on D. Minowai thrips, which were Böhm bristles, sensilla campaniformia, basiconic mastoid sensillum, sensilla chaetica, sensilla basiconica, sensilla coeloconica, sensilla cavity, sensilla auricillia and unusual sensillum. The sensilla chaetica and sensilla basiconica contained three and four subtypes, respectively. The type and distribution of sensilla significantly varied among different developmental stages: 1) Eight types of sensilla except basiconic mastoid sensillum were existed on the adult female. 2) Seven types of sensilla were existed on adult male other than basiconic mastoid sensillum and sensilla coeloconica. 3) The nymph possessed eight types of sensilla except sensilla auricillia, and with distinctive basiconic mastoid sensillum. 4) The types and number of sensilla on pupa were the least, only with sensilla chaetica and sensilla basiconica.

Effects of Biological Manure Fertilizer Application on Ameliorating Acidity of Tea Garden Soil

WU Zhidan, JIANG Fuying, YOU Zhiming, WANG Feng, ZHANG Lei, WENG Boqi

Journal of Tea Science. 2015, 35(2): 196-202. doi:10.13305/j.cnki.jts.2015.02.014

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A field experiment, with five treatments of application of biological manure fertilizer mixed with chemical fertilizers of different percentages: 0%（CK）, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%, respectively, was successively conducted from 2009-2012 to investigate the effects of application of the biological manure fertilizer (swine litter in the microbial fermentation bed) on ameliorating acidity of tea garden soil. Results showed that, compared with CK, the soil organic carbon, soil pH, the total amount of base cations, and the base saturation percentage increased by 3.00%-22.74%, 0.22-0.72 unit, 39.29%-248.21% and 43.90%-254.21% in biological manure fertilizer treatments, respectively, while the soil exchangeable acid decreased by 16.01%-73.64% on the 0-20βcm layer of the soils. Meanwhile, the soil organic carbon, soil pH, the total amount of base cations, and the base saturation percentage increased by 0.99%-11.48%, 0.14-0.59 unit, 46.03%-301.59%, and 51.79%-252.95%, respectively in biological manure fertilizer treatments, while the soil exchangeable acid decreased by 8.75%-32.15% on the 20-40βcm layer of the soils. It is concluded that biological manure application could effectively decrease acidity of tea garden soil. Moreover the effects increased with the higher biological manure fertilizer application rate. The reason of biological manure fertilizer application in ameliorating acidity of tea garden soil was that its application could increase the total base cations and the base saturation percentage of acid soil as well as simultaneously decreased the soil exchangeable acid.

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