Tea In Taiwan Research Articles

Investigation on the Quality of Commercially Available GABA Tea in Taiwan

This study collected 220 commercially available samples of γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) tea produced in Taiwan from 2016 to 2021. The 220 tea samples were categorized into five types of GABA tea, including 108 GABA Oolong tea, 71 GABA Black tea, 21 GABA Paochong tea, 12 GABA Green tea, and 8 GABA Puerh tea samples. The most common type of GABA tea in Taiwan is GABA Oolong tea, followed by GABA Black tea. The physico-chemical constituents and consumer acceptance of the GABA tea samples were analyzed. The GABA content varied among the different types of GABA tea: GABA Oolong tea ranged from 128–286 mg/100 g, GABA Black tea ranged from 182–360 mg/100 g, GABA Paochong tea ranged from 98–203 mg/100 g, GABA Green tea ranged from 56–174 mg/100 g, and GABA Puerh tea ranged from 142–191 mg/100 g. In terms of the commercial standard of GABA tea, 22 out of the 220 GABA tea samples failed to meet the commercial standard, with a failure rate of 10%. During the fermentation process of GABA tea, the contents of GABA increased significantly, but the total polyphenol and total catechin contents remained stable. In terms of consumer acceptance, GABA Black tea is the most accepted by consumers, followed by GABA Puerh tea, GABA Paochong, and GABA Oolong tea. The sour flavor in GABA tea is similar to the original sour sensory properties found in black tea. It is assumed that this is the main reason GABA Black tea has the highest acceptance.

The Euwallacea fornicatus species complex (Coleoptera: Curculionidae); emerging economic pests of tea in Taiwan

The Euwallacea fornicatus species complex is native to Asia but has invaded many countries globally. This complex includes four cryptic species that infest a wide range of economic crops, including tea. One of them is Euwallacea perbrevis Schedl, which has been a major pest of tea in Sri Lanka and India for over a century. The species complex was first recorded infesting tea in Taiwan over 80 years ago but the specific identity of that first record is unknown. Furthermore, although tea is an important industry in Taiwan, this pest has attracted limited attention. Hence, we surveyed tea gardens across the island, determining infestation rates, and identifying the Euwallacea species present. We also used sticky traps to monitor the annual flight dynamics of the beetles and of a parasitoid natural enemy, an undescribed species of Eucosmophorus. Levels of infestation varied even between neighboring gardens. Highly infested tea gardens were located mainly in central Taiwan and some in eastern Taiwan. The peak flight activity of the species complex occurred between October and March, when the parasitoid was also abundant. Molecular identification of the trapped beetles identified them as E. fornicatus sensu stricto Eichhoff and E. kuroshio Gomez & Hulcr, but E. perbrevis was not detected. In contrast to the situation in Sri Lanka, where E. perbrevis attacks the highly visible terminal branches of the tea plant, in Taiwan, E. fornicatus s. s. and E. kuroshio predominantly attacked the main bole and underground parts. We propose that the ‘hidden’ nature of this attack, and the similarities of the symptoms to a common fungal disease of tea, may have led to an underestimation of the impact of the species complex on tea, not only in Taiwan but also in other tea growing countries.

Monitoring and evaluating the dietary risk of trace elements content in bottled and hand-shaken tea in Taiwan.

Tea is the most frequently consumed beverage worldwide and is obtained from the leaves Camellia sinensis. The traditional way of tea consumption through brewing is gradually being replaced by the consumption of bottled and hand-shaken tea. Despite the different ways of tea consumption, trace elements accumulation and contamination of tea leaves have caused concerns. However, limited studies have reported trace element concentrations in different types of tea in bottled or hand-shaken tea and their health risks. This study aimed to determine the level of trace elements (V, Cr, Co, As, Cd, Pb, Mn, and Zn) in green tea, black tea, and Oolong tea in two varieties of products (bottled and hand-shaken tea). The health risks associated with tea consumption in various age subgroups among Taiwan's general population were also estimated. A Monte Carlo simulation was applied to estimate the distribution of daily trace elements intake through bottled and hand-shaken tea consumption. As to the non-carcinogenic risks, the Monte Carlo simulation showed that hand-shaken green tea had a higher percentage of hazard index (HI) >1 (1.08%~6.05%) among all age groups. As to carcinogenic risks, the Monte Carlo simulation showed that the risks of As exposure from bottled Oolong tea and hand-shaken black, green, and Oolong teas in the 90th percentile in >18 to ≤65 and >65-year-old groups were higher than 10-6. The current study findings provided some information about trace elements of both bottled and hand-shaken tea and human health risks in the general population of Taiwan.

Ethnobotanical Survey on Bitter Tea in Taiwan.

Ethnopharmacological evidence: In Taiwan, herbal tea is considered a traditional medicine and has been consumed for hundreds of years. In contrast to regular tea, herbal teas are prepared using plants other than the regular tea plant, Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze. Bitter tea (kǔ-chá), a series of herbal teas prepared in response to common diseases in Taiwan, is often made from local Taiwanese plants. However, the raw materials and formulations have been kept secret and verbally passed down by store owners across generations without a fixed recipe, and the constituent plant materials have not been disclosed. Aim of the study: The aim was to determine the herbal composition of bitter tea sold in Taiwan, which can facilitate further studies on pharmacological applications and conserve cultural resources. Materials and methods: Interviews were conducted through a semi-structured questionnaire. The surveyed respondents were traditional sellers of traditional herbal tea. The relevant literature was collated for a systematic analysis of the composition, characteristics, and traditional and modern applications of the plant materials used in bitter tea. We also conducted an association analysis of the composition of Taiwanese bitter tea with green herb tea (qing-cao-cha tea), another commonly consumed herbal tea in Taiwan, as well as herbal teas in neighboring areas outside Taiwan. Results: After visiting a total of 59 stores, we identified 32 bitter tea formulations and 73 plant materials. Asteraceae was the most commonly used family, and most stores used whole plants. According to a network analysis of nine plant materials used in high frequency as drug pairs, Tithonia diversifolia and Ajuga nipponensis were found to be the core plant materials used in Taiwanese bitter tea. Conclusion: Plant materials used in Taiwanese bitter tea were distinct, with multiple therapeutic functions. Further research is required to clarify their efficacy and mechanisms.

Effect of Soil Fertilizer Application on Soil Nutrient Migration and Tea Quality of Plateau-Puerh Tea

In order to solve the problem of chemical fertilizer application balance of Pu’er tea in Taiwan, the effects of different fertilization treatments on land nutrient migration and tea quality were explored, and the basis for rational fertilization of tea gardens was provided. In this study, the effects of different fertilization treatments on tea quality indexes were studied by three different sets of fertilization treatments in tea gardens. Three sets of different fertilization treatments were set up in the experiment: conventional fertilization treatment (T1), slow-release fertilizer reduction by 20% (T2) and slow-release fertilizer reduction by 30% (T3), and the quality index of tea under different fertilization treatments, as well as the alkaline nitrogen, available phosphorus and total nitrogen and total phosphorus content in surface water of the soil were measured and analyzed. The results showed that: 1) compared with T1, the soil available phosphorus in T3 decreased by 23.5%, and the alkalinelyzed nitrogen increased by 20.5%; 2) compared with T1, the total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations of surface water in the T2 and T3 treatments were at a low level compared with T1; compared with T1, T2 decreased by 71.4%, and T3 decreased by 68.6%; 3) compared with T1, T3 was able to maintain the quality indicators of amino acids, tea polyphenols and soluble sugars in tea in a high and stable range. Therefore, under the condition of conventional fertilization and reduction, a 30% reduction in slow-release fertilizer is currently more suitable for the fertilization technology of Menghai County Tea Garden.

Evaluation of Sensory Quality for Taiwanese Specialty Teas with Cold Infusion Using CATA and Temporal CATA by Taiwanese Consumers.

The market size of varied carbonated teas and bottled ready-to-drink tea products in Taiwan has surpassed that of traditional Taiwan tea with hot infusion. The consumption behavior of Taiwanese consumers for new and varied types of cold infusion tea products has also differed from that of traditional hot infusion ones. More kinds of Taiwan tea with different fermentation levels are gradually being used as raw materials for various cold infusion tea products. Therefore, to study consumers’ responses towards cold-brewed tea has become more important for the market of tea in Taiwan. This study recruited Taiwanese consumers to taste seven Taiwanese specialty tea infusions with various degrees of fermentation, and their opinions were gathered by questionnaires composed of check-all-that-apply (CATA), and temporal check-all-that-apply (TCATA) questions and hedonic scales. We found that both CATA and TCATA data agreed that the sensory features of unfermented and lightly semi-fermented tea infusions could be plainly distinguished from the ones of heavily semi-fermented and fully fermented teas based on correspondence analyses. Through CATA and TCATA, the sensory characteristics of the cold-brewed tea of various fermentation degrees could be clearly identified. The first-hand information of cold tea beverages analyzed through this study could be useful for the development of the market in Taiwan. The proper level of bitterness, astringency, fresh tea leaf flavor, and late sweetness were the essential qualities of cold infusions brewed from lightly fermented teas, which could be the best raw materials for production of cold tea beverages to satisfy as many consumers as possible.

Molecular Phylogenetic Diversity and Biological Characterization of Diaporthe Species Associated with Leaf Spots of Camellia sinensis in Taiwan.

Camellia sinensis is one of the major crops grown in Taiwan and has been widely cultivated around the island. Tea leaves are prone to various fungal infections, and leaf spot is considered one of the major diseases in Taiwan tea fields. As part of a survey on fungal species causing leaf spots on tea leaves in Taiwan, 19 fungal strains morphologically similar to the genus Diaporthe were collected. ITS (internal transcribed spacer), tef1-α (translation elongation factor 1-α), tub2 (beta-tubulin), and cal (calmodulin) gene regions were used to construct phylogenetic trees and determine the evolutionary relationships among the collected strains. In total, six Diaporthe species, including one new species, Diaporthe hsinchuensis, were identified as linked with leaf spot of C. sinensis in Taiwan based on both phenotypic characters and phylogeny. These species were further characterized in terms of their pathogenicity, temperature, and pH requirements under laboratory conditions. Diaporthe tulliensis, D. passiflorae, and D. perseae were isolated from C. sinensis for the first time. Furthermore, pathogenicity tests revealed that, with wound inoculation, only D. hongkongensis was pathogenic on tea leaves. This investigation delivers the first assessment of Diaporthe taxa related to leaf spots on tea in Taiwan.

Cryptic Diversity, Molecular Systematics, and Pathogenicity of Genus Pestalotiopsis and Allied Genera Causing Gray Blight Disease of Tea in Taiwan, With a Description of a New Pseudopestalotiopsis Species.

Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze, commonly known as tea, is widely cultivated around the world in tropical and subtropical areas. Tea is mainly manufactured using young shoots of tea plants. Therefore, it is essential to control foliar diseases. Gray blight disease is caused by pestalotiopsis-like taxa and is known as one of the most destructive tea diseases. Although several studies have provided the groundwork for the fungal diseases associated with C. sinensis in Taiwan, gray blight disease has not been characterized based on diversity, molecular systematics, or pathogenicity. The goal of this study was to identify and characterize the causative agents of tea gray blight disease. A total of 98 pestalotiopsis-like isolates associated with symptomatic leaves of C. sinensis from major tea fields in Taiwan were investigated. Based on phylogenies of single and concatenated DNA sequences (internal transcribed spacer, β-tubulin, translation elongation factor 1-α) together with morphology, we resolved most of the pestalotiopsis-like species in this study. The study revealed seven well-classified taxa and seven tentative clades in three genera: Pestalotiopsis, Pseudopestalotiopsis, and Neopestalotiopsis. One novel species, Pseudopestalotiopsis annellata, was introduced. Five new records, Pseudopestalotiopsis chinensis, Pseudopestalotiopsis camelliae-sinensis, Pestalotiopsis camelliae, Pestalotiopsis yanglingensis, and Pestalotiopsis trachicarpicola, were introduced for the first time in Taiwan. Pseudopestalotiopsis chinensis was the taxon most frequently isolated from C. sinensis in this study. Furthermore, results of pathogenicity assessments exhibited that, with wound inoculation, all assayed isolates in this study were pathogenic on tea leaves. Pseudopestalotiopsis chinensis and Pseudopestalotiopsis camelliae-sinensis were identified as the major pathogens associated with gray blight disease of tea in Taiwan. To our knowledge, this is the first study of the diversity, pathogenicity, and characterization of pestalotiopsis-like fungi causing tea gray blight disease in Taiwan.

First report of anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum fructicola on tea in Taiwan.

Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) is a very popular beverage and cash crop that is widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical areas. In November 2017, diseased tea plants that exhibiting brown blight disease were observed in Guanxi Township of Hsinchu County in Taiwan. In the plantation,15% of tea trees (about 4000 plants) had an average of 20% of the leaves with at least one lesion. The symptoms began as small, water-soaked lesions on young leaves and twigs and later became larger, dark brown, necrotic lesions of 1 to 3 cm in diameter on leaves and 2 to 5 cm in length on twigs. Symptomatic leaf tissue (1 cm2) from five samples per sample) was surface sterilized with 1% NaClO (from commercial bleach, Clorox) for 1 min, washed with sterilized water 3 times, plated onto potato dextrose agar (PDA), and incubated under 12h/12h cycles of light and darkness at 25°C until sporulation to determine the causal agent. A fungus was consistently isolated from symptomatic leaf samples (80% isolation rate). The fungus initially produced white-to-gray fluffy aerial hyphae, which subsequently exhibited dark pigmentation. Acervuli and setae were absent. The conidia were hyaline, aseptate, smooth-walled, and cylindrical with obtuse to slightly rounded ends, with sizes of 12.10 to 16.02 × 3.58 to 4.91 (average 13.77 × 4.05, n = 30) μm. The majority had two rounded guttules. The appressoria were brown to dark brown, ovoid and slightly obtuse at the tip in shape, had lengths ranging from 3.59 to 10.31 μm (with an average of 7.18 μm, n = 30), and had diameters of 3.14 to 6.43 μm (with an average of 5.10 μm, n = 30). Morphological characteristics matched the descriptions of Colletotrichum fructicola (Liu et al. 2015; Fuentes-Aragón et al. 2018). The internal transcribed spacer of nuclear ribosomal DNA (ITS), actin (ACT), chitin synthase (CHS-1), and Apn2-Mat1-2 intergenic spacer and partial mating-type Mat1-2 gene (ApMAT) sequences of the isolates were obtained to confirm this identification. The sequences showed close identity with those of C. fructicola ex-type cultures ICMP18581 and CBS 130416 (Weir et al. 2012) of 99.65% for the ITS (JX010165), 99.29% for the ACT (JX009501), and 100.00% for the CHS-1 (JX009866), as well as close identity with the other ex-type culture LF506 (Liu et al. 2015) of 99.59% for the ApMat (KJ954567), supporting the isolate's identification as C. fructicola. The sequences were deposited in GenBank, with the following accession Nos.: MN608177 (ITS), MN393175 (ACT), MT087546 (CHS-1), and MT087542 (ApMAT). Based on morphology and DNA sequence analysis, the associated fungus was identified as C. fructicola. Pathogenicity tests were performed next according to the procedures described in Chen et al. (2017). Healthy leaves on tea plants (Ca. sinensis 'Chin-shin Oolong') were wounded by pinpricking in the middle of each counterpart and inoculated with conidial suspension (1 × 107 conidia/ml, 10 μl). Both non-wounded and wounded healthy leaves were inoculated with the conidial suspension and sterile distilled water (a water control). The tea plants were covered with plastic bags to maintain high relative humidity for two days. One week after inoculation, anthracnose was observed on 40% of inoculated leaves, whereas all the control leaves remained healthy. The fungus was re-isolated from the diseased plants, and identified as C. fructicola by resequencing of the four genes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of anthracnose caused by C. fructicola on tea in Taiwan although the pathogen has been present in China and Indonesia (Wang et al. 2016; Shi et al. 2017; Farr and Rossman, 2020).

First report of Acidovorax avenae subsp. avenae causing bacterial leaf blight of tea in Taiwan

First report of Acidovorax avenae subsp. avenae causing bacterial leaf blight of tea in Taiwan

Identification of natural antimicrobial peptides from bacteria through metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analysis of high-throughput transcriptome data of Taiwanese oolong teas

BackgroundAnti-microbial peptides (AMPs), naturally encoded by genes and generally containing 12–100 amino acids, are crucial components of the innate immune system and can protect the host from various pathogenic bacteria and viruses. In recent years, the widespread use of antibiotics has resulted in the rapid growth of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms that often induce critical infection and pathogenesis. Recently, the advent of high-throughput technologies has led molecular biology into a data surge in both the amount and scope of data. For instance, next-generation sequencing technology has been applied to generate large-scale sequencing reads from foods, water, soil, air, and specimens to identify microbiota and their functions based on metagenomics and metatranscriptomics, respectively. In addition, oolong tea is partially fermented and is the most widely produced tea in Taiwan. Many studies have shown the benefits of oolong tea in inhibiting obesity, reducing dental plaque deposition, antagonizing allergic immune responses, and alleviating the effects of aging. However, the microbes and their functions present in oolong tea remain unknown.ResultsTo understand the relationship between Taiwanese oolong teas and bacterial communities, we designed a novel bioinformatics scheme to identify AMPs and their functional types based on metagenomics and metatranscriptomic analysis of high-throughput transcriptome data. Four types of oolong teas (Dayuling tea, Alishan tea, Jinxuan tea, and Oriental Beauty tea) were subjected to 16S ribosomal DNA and total RNA extraction and sequencing. Metagenomics analysis results revealed that Oriental Beauty tea exhibited greater bacterial diversity than other teas. The most common bacterial families across all tea types were Bacteroidaceae (21.7%), Veillonellaceae (22%), and Fusobacteriaceae (12.3%). Metatranscriptomics analysis results revealed that the dominant bacteria species across all tea types were Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Chryseobacterium sp. StRB126, which were subjected to further functional analysis. A total of 8194 (6.5%), 26,220 (6.1%), 5703 (5.8%), and 106,183 (7.8%) reads could be mapped to AMPs.ConclusionWe found that the distribution of anti-gram-positive and anti-gram-negative AMPs is highly correlated with the distribution of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria in Taiwanese oolong tea samples.

English

The purpose of this study is to identify Japanese's green tea consumption preferences among young people in Taiwan between the age of 18-30 and assess the possible tea market opportunities for Japanese's green tea in Taiwan, among young people.   Questionnaire was used to collect data which were spread to 200 university students, aged between 18-30 years. Firstly, the tea product tasting survey provided four kinds of Japanese green tea. Next, the questionnaire was divided into four parts. Findings of this study show Taiwanese young people prefer taste attribute as the main factor to selecting their tea preference, to others who choose Minamisayaka mostly as their tea preference, with Benifuuki in second place. This study also aggregates the evaluation of Japanese green tea after tea tasting. Keywords: Green tea, Taiwanese, Japanese, preference.   See: Notice of Retraction

UJI TOKSISITAS EKSTRAK DAUN PLETEKAN (Ruellia tuberosa L.) DENGAN MENGGUNAKAN METODE BRINE SHRIMP LETHALITY TEST (BSLT)

Minnie root (Ruellia tuberosa L .) belongs to Acanthaceae family. In traditional medicine has been used as diuretic, antidiabetic, antipyretic and antihypertensive and it also recently been incorporated as a component in a herbal tea in Taiwan. This research is aim to determine LC 5 0 value of Minnie root leaves extract (Ruellia tuberosa L .) to Artemia salina Leach shrimp larvae. Dryed samples extracted by graduate maceration with n-hexan, ethyl acetate and ethanol respectively. Rendamen n-hexane extract obtained as much as 1.158%, ethyl acetate extract as much as 2.017% and ethanol extract as much as 3.669 %. Based on qualitative screening used TLC method, ethyl acetate extracts and ethanol extracts of Minnie root (Ruellia tuberosa L .) leaves contain alkaloid, saponin, flavonoid and phenolic compounds. Toxicity assay Artemia salina Leach shrimp larvae have been conducted on leaves extracts of Minnie root (Ruellia tuberosa L .). Toxicity assay on sample extract of Minnie root (Ruellia tuberosa L. ) leaves determine by counting the number died of larvae after 24 hours treatment. LC 5 0 on sample calculated by probit analysis method. The toxicity assay showed LC 5 0 of ethyl acetate extracts and ethanol extracts are toxic with LC 5 0 266.07 ± 0.93 µg/mL and 142.160 ± 1.30 µg/mL.

A RISK21 matrix for assessing the potential health risk of DDT from flower tea in Taiwan

A RISK21 matrix for assessing the potential health risk of DDT from flower tea in Taiwan

Teaghrelins, unique acylated flavonoid tetraglycosides in Chin-shin oolong tea, are putative oral agonists of the ghrelin receptor.

Chin-shin oolong tea, a popular tea in Taiwan, was empirically perceived to induce hunger and accelerate gastric emptying in a manner similar to the physiological effects of ghrelin, an endogenous acylated peptide known as the hunger hormone. Two unique acylated flavonoid tetraglycosides previously identified in Chin-shin oolong tea were demonstrated to induce hunger of rats in a food intake assay and, thus, named teaghrelin-1 and teaghrelin-2. Similar to GHRP-6, a synthetic analogue of ghrelin, teaghrelin-1 stimulated growth hormone secretion of rat primary anterior pituitary cells in a dose-dependent manner, and the stimulation was inhibited by [D-Arg(1),D-Phe(5),D-Trp(7,9),Leu(11)]-substance P, an antagonist of the ghrelin receptor. While teaghrelin-2 remained unmodified, a meta-O-methylated metabolite of teaghrelin-1 was detected in bile of rats after intravenous injection. Presumably, teaghrelins are promising oral agonists of the ghrelin receptor.

The structural transformation of Taiwan's tea industry

This paper traces the history of the tea industry in Taiwan from its commercial beginnings in the 1860s through to the present. At the turn of the century, tea was by far Taiwan's most valuable export but production levels increased little for another 50 years. The story of the last 40 years is very different. This has been a dynamic industry whose story is lost behind the even more remarkable growth of the Taiwanese economy. The structural transformation of the industry has involved export substitution and relocation. Particular emphasis is placed on the last decade during which production has remained more or less constant, exports have fallen dramatically and imports of tea have commenced. The rate of increase in per capita consumption has been faster than the growth of incomes. The types of tea produced have changed, as has the location of production. The very rapid switch from the international to the domestic market suggests more than a change in comparative advantage. There appears to havebeen a major “change of taste” for tea in Taiwan. An investigation of the economic transformation of Taiwan's tea industry also provides an opportunity to look down a “time telescope” at some of the possible changes that may occur on the Chinese mainland in the future.