Abstract
C. sinensis cv. Sijichun is a representative Taiwanese low-altitude tea cultivar native to central Taiwan. To enrich the taste of tea in a geographically disadvantaged area, soil management became necessary but was obscure. The purpose of this study was to screen the main soil factors that influence the quality composition levels of tea to optimize the efficiency of tea tree horticulture. Soil and tea leaf samples collected from 20 tea plantations determined thirteen soil properties, nine leaf element nutrients and aluminum, and five main extractable quality compositions, including polyphenols, catechins, flavones, free amino acids, and caffeine in tea infusion. Pearson’s correlation analysis and principal component correlation analysis showed that soil available nutrients cannot respond to the concentration of corresponding essential elements in tea leaves; nevertheless, adequate leaf macronutrients and Zn could enhance polyphenol, free amino acid, and caffeine contents, but decreased flavone contents, and showed their consistent effect by soil characteristics. Of note, soil pH, EC, exchangeable calcium, exchangeable magnesium, total concentration of manganese, and total concentration of copper were shown as significant impact factors on free amino acid content. In summary, regulating the pH of soil under 3.51–5.21 in our study and managing soil effective Ca, Mg, and Zn supply could help to obtain a greater umami taste of tea.
Highlights
The tea plant (Camellia sinensis (L.) O
In an attempt to enhance the abundance of quality compositions in our representative Taiwanese low-altitude tea cultivar, Sijichun, against the elevation downside and optimize the efficiency of tea tree horticulture, we closely looked at the relationship among thirteen soil properties, ten foliar elements, and the five main quality compositions in tea infusion
Despite that previous research demonstrated the concentration of plant tissue nutrients relies on the corresponding soil nutrient supply [42], our nonsignificant correlation revealed that mineral nutrients needed for tea leaf growth may be mainly supplied by the nutrients stored in the sink of tea trees instead of reflected immediately by the available nutrient levels of soil
Summary
The tea plant (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. The potential health benefits of tea have been pointed out to inhibit carcinogenic transcription factors, stabilize blood pressure, prevent cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and reduce the intestinal absorption of lipids given the antioxidant capacity of phenolic compounds [10–12]. These content of quality components (secondary metabolites) depend on genes, variety, climate, altitude, soil and fertilizer management, harvest season, leaf age, and manufacturing process [13–15]. Edaphic factors are still crucial since the biochemical properties determine the availability of essential nutrients, which is reported to play an important role in plant growth and support the biosynthesis of chemical compositions and tea quality
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