What Lies in the Future of Tea Science in the Era of Genomics?

Abstract

Human being has been using tea as a beverage for thousands of years. Chinese tea is made of dried leaves from tea plants ( Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze ), while the British tea, which is called herbal tea, is a mixture of dried herbs from a variety of plants. Countless plants are used to make tea, but do the active compounds in these plants serve the same functions as typical tea leaves do? In fact, it is not yet known what exactly a cup of herbal tea contains. With the development of biotechnology and the arrival of the era of genomics, what lies in the path in the future development of tea science? In this paper, the author would like to propose some directions as the following: 1) the exploration at molecular level of what is inside a tea bag; 2) the study of a typical tea plant ( Camellia sinensis ) as a model plant for tea study; 3) Tea-nomics study based on new-generation of sequencing technology; 4) comparative metabolomics studies on biologically active compounds in tea; 5) identification based on pharmacology and toxicology. With the advent of the genomics era, the mysteries in tea bags will slowly be deciphered; whether it is Chinese tea or English tea, tea will still be the most popular drink.