Comprehensive analysis of environmental factors on the quality of tea (Camellia sinensis var. sinensis) fresh leaves

Abstract

“High mountain, cloud and mist produce high-quality tea”; however, the specific mechanism has not been fully understood. To explore the influence of environmental factors on the quality of tea fresh leaves, we firstly selected the same variety of tea plant growing at different altitudes in Xuan'en County, China. And then, based on the analyses of the physical and chemical properties of the soil where they grew, we comprehensively analyzed the composition and content of volatile and non-volatile substances in these tea fresh leaves harvested from 27 sampling sites. The relative contents of linalool and its oxides I and II, phenylethanol and nerol in paddy soil were higher than those in red soil and yellow soil, but the contents of acids and esters were significantly lower than those in other soils (P < 0.05). Benzoic acid content and palmitic acid content are relatively high in red soil and yellow soil, respectively. The amino acid content of tea fresh leaves produced in paddy soil is significantly lower than that in red soil and yellow soil, while the contents of catechins and flavonol glycosides were significantly higher than that in other soils (P < 0.05). The relative contents of EGCG, ECG and C in paddy soil were significantly higher than those in yellow soil and red soil. The content of alkaloids in red soil is high. With the increase of altitude, the content of amino acids gradually increased, and the catechins content showed a trend of first decreasing and then increasing; the phenolic acid content changes in accordance with catechins with the elevation; the flavonoids content (alcohols) glycosides did not change obviously in each altitude range. These results are helpful for us to fully understand the influence of environmental factors on the quality of fresh tea leaves.