Abstract

Traditionally, the supplement of organic manure in tea plantations has been a common approach to improving soil fertility and promoting terroir compounds, as manifested by the coordinated increase in yield and quality for the resulting teas. However, information regarding the effect of organic manure in the metabolome of tea plants is still inadequate. The metabolite profiles of tea shoots applied with cow manure, urea or no fertilizer were studied using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). In total, 73 metabolites were detected, and the modulated metabolites included mainly amino acids, organic acids and fatty acids. In particular, glutamine, quinic acid and proline accumulated more in tea shoots in soils treated with cow manure, but octadecanoic acid, hexadecanoic acid and eicosanoic acid were drastically reduced. Pearson correlation analysis indicated that organic acids and amino acids in tea shoots were the two major metabolite groups among the three treatments. The analysis of metabolic pathways demonstrated that the cow manure treatment significantly changed the enrichment of pathways related to amino acids, sugars and fatty acids. Sensory evaluation showed that the quality of green teas was higher when the plants used to make the tea were grown in soil treated with cow manure rather than urea during spring and late summer. The results indicated that the application of cow manure in soils changed the metabolic characteristics of tea shoots and improved the qualities of the resulting teas.

Highlights

  • The tea plant, Camellia sinensis (L.) O

  • In order to visualize the data set, orthogonal-partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) was preformed, and the results demonstrated that S1, S2 and S3 had extensive differences in metabolite profiles (Figure 1b)

  • We investigated the metabolic characteristics of tea shoots harvested in soils treated with cow manure

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Summary

Introduction

The tea plant, Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze, is an evergreen leafy plant that is used in the manufacturing of beverages. The production and consumption of tea worldwide has continually increased over decades. China is a major tea producer and tea exporter, with a total export value of 13 billion USD and production accounting for approximately. 45% of the global total output in 2019 [1]. Green tea, accounting for the largest share of the tea industry, is widely appreciated for its health properties, elegant flavor and pleasant aroma [2]. Tea quality depends on the metabolites produced by various metabolic pathways [3]

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