Abstract
Tea (Camellia sinensis var. sinensis) is a widely consumed caffeine-containing beverage, however the Camellia genus also includes other species, which are consumed as tea in their local growing regions. Presently, HPLC analysis assessed 126 unique Camellia germplasms belonging to three Camellia species, C. sinensis var. pubilimba Chang (Csp), C. gymnogyna Chang (CgC) and C. crassicolumna Chang (CcC). Theobromine was the predominant purine alkaloid in all species, representing over 90% of purine alkaloids in Csp and CgC, and 50% in CcC. Significant variability existed in purine alkaloid patterns both between and within species, and some germplasms possessed highly unique alkaloid profiles. Sensory evaluation and quality composition analysis of green tea products produced from the three Camellia species suggested their unsuitability for use in tea production due to their unpalatable flavor. The results of this study revealed the differences in purine alkaloids and main quality components between Camellia species and tea, which contributed to understand why tea, rather than other Camellia species, has become a popular beverage in the world after long-term artificial selection. In addition, unique alkaloid profiles suggest usefulness of these germplasm resources in future breeding of decaffeinated tea plant varieties and alkaloid metabolism research.
Highlights
Tea, second only to water in global beverage consumption, is the oldest and most popular non-alcoholic beverage, with great economic importance and medicinal benefits
In the present study we collected preliminary plant morphological data of three Camellia species, Csp, crassicolumna Chang (CcC), and C. gymnogyna Chang (CgC), and analyzed the purine alkaloid profiles of 126 accessions wild Camellia germplasm samples belonging to these three species
We found that the profiles of purine alkaloids were highly variable between and within species
Summary
Second only to water in global beverage consumption, is the oldest (since 3000 BC) and most popular non-alcoholic beverage, with great economic importance and medicinal benefits. Tea is widely consumed by 3 billion people in 160 countries [1,2,3]. Thea (L.) Dyer) are classified into Theaceae, Genus Camellia Linn., and are evergreen trees or shrubs. Tea plants are classified into five species, including C. sinensis (L.) O. There are three varieties of C. sinensis (L.) O. Assamica (Masters) Kitamura, and C. sinensis var. The tea typically cultivated and consumed around the world is made from Css. (Figure S1) China is the origin of tea plants, with a wide variety of Camellia plants. As the first country in the world to use tea trees, why
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