Types Of Tea Research Articles

Effect of CTC processing on quality characteristics of green tea infusion: A comparative study with conventional orthodox processing

Traditionally, green tea is manufactured using orthodox processing methods. The CTC (curl, tear, and crush) method, widely employed in black tea processing, has minimal application in green tea production. However, it exhibits potential in terms of extraction efficiency to infusion. This study investigates the CTC method for producing green tea (CGT) and compares the extraction efficiency of bioactives to infusion with orthodox green tea (OGT). Total polyphenol, catechins, caffeine, and theanine extraction efficiencies were evaluated in both CGT infusion (CGTI) and OGT infusion (OGTI), along with water extract, antioxidant activity, color parameters, and sensory attributes. Results showed the amount of the bioactive compounds extracted from 2.00 g OGT could be attained from 0.75 to 1.00 g of CGT. This indicates that CGT is 100 to 167% more efficient in terms of the contents of bioactives in the infusion than OGT. This finding corroborates the observations of higher antioxidant activity of CGT compared to OGT. CGTI achieved similar taste and color perceptions with half the amount of OGT or even less. This enhanced extraction efficiency, along with CGTI's taste and color characteristics, can facilitate its commercial production, benefiting consumers and the tea industry. Industrial relevanceThis study provides comprehensive information on CTC green tea to the tea industry, which is the first of its kind with such in-depth details. As evident, the CTC processing mode of green tea promises more affordability to its growing consumers leading to increased demand for this type of tea which will immensely benefit the tea industry.

A colorimetric sensor for rapid discrimination of tea polyphenols and tea authentication based on Rh-decorated Pd nanocubes with high peroxidase-like activity

The rapid development of nanozymes has offered substantial opportunities for the fields of biomedicine, chemical sensing, and food safety. Among these applications, multichannel sensors, with the capability of simultaneously detecting multiple target analytes, hold promise for the practical application of nanozymes in chemical sensing with high detection efficiency. In this study, Rh-decorated Pd nanocubes (Pd–Rh nanocubes) with significantly enhanced peroxidase-like activity are synthesized through the mediation of underpotential deposition (UPD) and subsequently employed to develop a multichannel colorimetric sensor for discriminating tea polyphenols (TPs) and tea authentication. Based on a single reactive unit of efficient catalytic oxidation of 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine dihydrochloride (TMB), the nanozyme-based multichannel colorimetric sensor responds to each analyte in as short as 1 min. With the aid of principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), various TPs and types of tea can be accurately identified. This work not only provides a new type of simply structured and highly active nanozymes but also develops a concise and rapid multichannel sensor for practical application in tea authentication and quality inspection.

Bioinspired integrated triboelectric electronic tongue

An electronic tongue (E-tongue) comprises a series of sensors that simulate human perception of taste and embedded artificial intelligence (AI) for data analysis and recognition. Traditional E-tongues based on electrochemical methods suffer from a bulky size and require larger sample volumes and extra power sources, limiting their applications in in vivo medical diagnosis and analytical chemistry. Inspired by the mechanics of the human tongue, triboelectric components have been incorporated into E-tongue platforms to overcome these limitations. In this study, an integrated multichannel triboelectric bioinspired E-tongue (TBIET) device was developed on a single glass slide chip to improve the device’s taste classification accuracy by utilizing numerous sensory signals. The detection capability of the TBIET was further validated using various test samples, including representative human body, environmental, and beverage samples. The TBIET achieved a remarkably high classification accuracy. For instance, chemical solutions showed 100% identification accuracy, environmental samples reached 98.3% accuracy, and four typical teas demonstrated 97.0% accuracy. Additionally, the classification accuracy of NaCl solutions with five different concentrations reached 96.9%. The innovative TBIET exhibits a remarkable capacity to detect and analyze droplets with ultrahigh sensitivity to their electrical properties. Moreover, it offers a high degree of reliability in accurately detecting and analyzing various liquid samples within a short timeframe. The development of a self-powered portable triboelectric E-tongue prototype is a notable advancement in the field and is one that can greatly enhance the feasibility of rapid on-site detection of liquid samples in various settings.

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Combined with Fuzzy Improved Direct Linear Discriminant Analysis for Nondestructive Discrimination of Chrysanthemum Tea Varieties.

The quality of chrysanthemum tea has a great connection with its variety. Different types of chrysanthemum tea have very different efficacies and functions. Moreover, the discrimination of chrysanthemum tea varieties is a significant issue in the tea industry. Therefore, to correctly and non-destructively categorize chrysanthemum tea samples, this study attempted to design a novel feature extraction method based on the fuzzy set theory and improved direct linear discriminant analysis (IDLDA), called fuzzy IDLDA (FIDLDA), for extracting the discriminant features from the near-infrared (NIR) spectral data of chrysanthemum tea. To start with, a portable NIR spectrometer was used to collect NIR data for five varieties of chrysanthemum tea, totaling 400 samples. Secondly, the raw NIR spectra were processed by four different pretreatment methods to reduce noise and redundant data. Thirdly, NIR data dimensionality reduction was performed by principal component analysis (PCA). Fourthly, feature extraction from the NIR spectra was performed by linear discriminant analysis (LDA), IDLDA, and FIDLDA. Finally, the K-nearest neighbor (KNN) algorithm was applied to evaluate the classification accuracy of the discrimination system. The experimental results show that the discrimination accuracies of LDA, IDLDA, and FIDLDA could reach 87.2%, 94.4%, and 99.2%, respectively. Therefore, the combination of near-infrared spectroscopy and FIDLDA has great application potential and prospects in the field of nondestructive discrimination of chrysanthemum tea varieties.

Determination of organic acids for predicting sourness intensity of tea beverage by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and chemometrics methods.

The contents of organic acids (OAs) in tea beverage and their relationship with taste intensity have not been fully understood. In this work, a rapid (10min for a single run) and sensitive (limits of quantification: 0.0044-0.4486µg/mL) method was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of 17 OAs in four types of tea, based on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with multiple reaction monitoring mode. The contents of 17 OAs in 96 tea samples were measured at levels between 0.01 and 11.80g/kg (dried weight). Quinic acid, citric acid, and malic acid were determined as the major OAs in green, black, and raw pu-erh teas, while oxalic acid and tartaric acid exhibited the highest contents in ripe pu-erh tea. Taking the OAs composition as input features, a partial least squares regression model was proposed to predict the sourness intensity of tea beverages. The model achieved a root-mean-square error of 0.58 and a coefficient of determination of 0.84 for the testing set. The proposed model provides a theoretical way to evaluate the sensory quality of tea infusion based on its chemical composition.

Characterization of the key volatile compounds in longjing tea (Camellia sinensis) with different aroma types at different steeping temperatures by GC‒MS and GC‒IMS

Longjing tea (Camellia sinensis), an iconic agricultural product distinguished by its geographical indication status, has gained much acceptance and consumption in China. The aroma types and steeping conditions of green tea are important factors influencing consumer acceptance. However, the effects of steeping conditions on tea samples with different aroma types are still unknown. Explanation of the above unknowns can provide new insights into the flavor variations of tea when consumed for optimal sensory enjoyment. Here, the aroma profiles of Longjing green teas with bean-like (DX) and fresh aroma (QX) types were analyzed using gas chromatography‒mass spectrometry (GC‒MS), gas chromatography–ion mobility spectrometry (GC‒IMS), and quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA). Geraniol, (E, E)-2,4-heptadienal and other 11 compounds contributed to the bean-like aroma, while heptanal-d, hexanal-d and other 4 compounds contributed to the fresh aroma. Further, the release patterns of volatiles at different steeping temperatures were also revealed. 12 volatiles led to the differences between the two aroma types of Longjing teas at different steeping temperatures. Most volatiles exhibited their aroma characteristics when the steeping temperature exceeded 80 °C. These results enhance the comprehension of green tea's aroma profile, thereby enabling consumers to approach tea drinking from a more scientific perspective.

The Association between Antenatal Tea Drinking and Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Several adverse maternal outcomes have been linked to the excessive consumption of caffeine during pregnancy. Tea is an important source of caffeine. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are common pregnancy complications with unfavorable maternal and fetal complications. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between antenatal tea drinking and HDP using a meta-analysis of available evidence. We systematically retrieved eligible studies before computing the pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of HDP for women who reported the highest versus the lowest frequencies of antenatal tea drinking. We used the I2 statistic to measure heterogeneity across studies and the test for funnel plot asymmetry to evaluate publication bias. The results showed that the highest frequencies of antenatal tea drinking were associated with increased odds of HDP (pooled OR = 1.16, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.33). We identified no signs of heterogeneity across studies (I2 = 0.0% and p-heterogeneity = 0.498) or publication bias (z = 0.791 and p-publication bias = 0.429). When the outcome was limited to (pre-)eclampsia, the association became statistically non-significant (pooled OR = 1.28, 95% CI: 0.86, 1.89, I2 = 0.0%, and p-heterogeneity = 0.751). In conclusion, our results indicated that the highest frequency of antenatal tea drinking was positively associated with HDP. Pregnant women should be advised against excessive tea consumption. Still, future prospective cohort studies, considering the effects of different tea types and caffeine content, are needed to confirm our conclusions.

Analisis Strategi Pemasaran Teh Celup Walini Industri Hilir PTPN VIII Berdasarkan Perspektif Syariah

PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) VIII's downstream company is the Downstream Tea Industry (IHT). IHT makes two types of tea: tea bags and brewed tea. The trademark used is Walini. Every year, IHT in running its business increases. This makes the author interested in examining the methods used and whether these methods are in accordance with sharia principles. Qualitative descriptive research is used in this type of research. Both primary and secondary data were used. Primary data was obtained from the marketing division, sales division, tabin, general department employees, and head of production. Data collection methods are through interviews, documentation, and observation. The results showed that IHT uses a marketing mix strategy, which includes product, price, location, and promotion strategies. The product strategy is to maintain quality, increase flavor variety, and improve packaging. The price strategy is Cost-Plus, Premium, Dynamic, and Competition-Based. The place (distribution) strategy is e-commerce, general trade, and contemporary trade. She uses gimmicks, collaborating with private and public educational institutions, events, and social media to promote herself. IHT uses sharia marketing strategies by using attributes and values such as spirituality, shidiq, amanah, fathanah, and tabligh.

Consumer Satisfaction and Perception Towards Green Tea

Green tea is a type of tea that is made from Camellia sinensis leaves and buds that have not undergone the same withering and oxidation process used to make oolong teas and black teas.[1] Green tea originated in China, but its production and manufacture has spread to other countries in East Asia. Several varieties of green tea exist, which differ substantially based on the variety of C. sinensis used, growing conditions, horticultural methods, production processing, and time of harvest. Although there has been considerable research on the possible health effects of consuming green tea regularly, there is little evidence that drinking green tea has any effects on health

Chemical composition and discrimination with volatile profiles of Yongchuan Xiuya green tea with different baking treatments

AbstractThis study aimed to explore the effects of different baking treatments on the quality of Yongchuan Xiuya (YCXY) green tea. It was found that a long time baking at low temperature was beneficial to keep green colour, faint scent, mellow and fresh taste quality, whereas baking under high temperature was adverse to the quality. Baking treatments slightly regulated (−)‐epigallocatechin, (−)‐epicatechin, (−)‐gallocatechin gallate, total chlorophyll and carotenoid. As the baking temperature rose, the content of tea polyphenols, gallic acid, catechins, caffeine, soluble sugar and polyphenols/amino acids ratio obviously decreased. A total of 40 kinds of volatiles were detected in these six tea samples. A model for aroma type discrimination was successfully established based on partial least squares‐discriminant analysis (PLS‐DA). Ten kinds of volatile substances were the key characteristic markers for the faint scent, chestnut aroma and high‐fired aroma types of YCXY green tea. 1‐hexanol, hotrienol and dimethyl sulfide were furtherly used to discriminant aroma type based on Fisher discriminant analysis (FDA).

Traditional Rural Culture in Xinyang Tea Packaging Design

Rural traditional culture is an important component of China's traditional cultural system, and has been an important supporting force for the national rejuvenation in the recent years. It has also been widely used in many industries, with the aim to promote rich cultural connotations into the development of rural traditional cultural elements. Xinyang Maojian tea, as being one of China’s most famous product, comes with various tea packaging designs that portray the richness of tea in its own traditional tea culture. Using rural cultural symbols to convey tea culture can reflect regional characteristics and tea types in most prominent way. Therefore, this study would skillfully integrate rural cultural content, combining symbol design theory and using information means to carry out Xinyang tea packaging design that can reflect the market awareness of tea and expand the popularity of Xinyang Maojian. From the perspective of traditional rural culture, this paper analyzes the packaging design of Xinyang tea, aiming at improving the publicity effect of Xinyang tea and carrying forward the traditional rural culture of Xinyang.

Determination of aluminium concentrations in black, green, and white tea samples: effects of different infusion times and teapot species on aluminium release

Tea is the most consumed beverage in the world after water and contains heavy metals and trace elements that may cause potential negative effects on health. Aluminium (Al) concentrations in black, green, and white tea with different infusion times and teapot materials were evaluated in this study. Commercially available tea samples were brewed in 5 different teapots, consisting of aluminium, copper, glass, steel, and porcelain materials for 5, 10, and 15 min. Al concentrations in tea samples were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography with a fluorescence detector. Al concentrations in tea samples were in the range of 38.46 ± 5.08–844.75 ± 10.86 µg/L. Both teapot type (p < 0.001) and infusion time (p < 0.001) significantly influenced Al concentrations in tea samples. The interaction between tea type, teapot material, and infusion time was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The hazard ratio was less than 1 for black and white tea infusions except for one sample whereas it was greater than 1 for green tea. These data suggest that green tea consumption might be a potential risk factor for Al exposure.

Quality Detection and Grading of Rose Tea Based on a Lightweight Model.

Rose tea is a type of flower tea in China's reprocessed tea category, which is divided into seven grades, including super flower, primary flower, flower bud, flower heart, yellow flower, scattered flower, and waste flower. Grading rose tea into distinct quality levels is a practice that is essential to boosting their competitive advantage. Manual grading is inefficient. We provide a lightweight model to advance rose tea grading automation. Firstly, four kinds of attention mechanisms were introduced into the backbone and compared. According to the experimental results, the Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) was chosen in the end due to its ultimate capacity to enhance the overall detection performance of the model. Second, the lightweight module C2fGhost was utilized to change the original C2f module in the neck to lighten the network while maintaining detection performance. Finally, we used the SIoU loss in place of the CIoU loss to improve the boundary regression performance of the model. The results showed that the mAP, precision (P), recall (R), FPS, GFLOPs, and Params values of the proposed model were 86.16%, 89.77%, 83.01%, 166.58, 7.978, and 2.746 M, respectively. Compared with the original model, the mAP, P, and R values increased by 0.67%, 0.73%, and 0.64%, the GFLOPs and Params decreased by 0.88 and 0.411 M, respectively, and the speed was comparable. The model proposed in this study also performed better than other advanced detection models. It provides theoretical research and technical support for the intelligent grading of roses.

The manufacturing process provides green teas with differentiated nonvolatile profiles and influences the deterioration of flavor during storage at room temperature

Hundreds of green tea products are available on the tea market and exhibit different characteristics. In the present study, seven types of green tea were processed, and their nonvolatile profiles were analyzed by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. Non-spreading green tea contained higher concentrations of catechins and flavonoid glycosides, but lower concentrations of amino acids, caffeine, and theaflavins. Non-rolling green teas with a straight appearance contained higher concentrations of flavonoid glycosides and theaflavins. In contrast, leaf-rolling green teas contained much lower concentrations of flavonoid glycosides and catechins. These seven green tea qualities all decreased following prolonged storage, concurrent with increasing concentrations of proanthocyanidins, catechins dimers, theaflavins, and organic acids. The leaf-rolling green teas exhibited reduced levels of deterioration during storage in terms of their nonvolatile profile and sensory quality. Findings show that moderate destruction on tea leaves during green tea processing is beneficial to both tea flavor and quality maintenance during storage.

Functional Food Innovation Based on Fermented Milk Products with Fortification of Various Types of Tea: A Review

Functional Food Innovation Based on Fermented Milk Products with Fortification of Various Types of Tea: A Review

Correlation analysis of secondary metabolites and disease resistance activity of different varieties of Congou black tea based on LC-MS/MS and TCMSP

To investigate the correlation between the difference of secondary metabolites and the disease-resistance activity of different varieties of Congou black tea. Among a total of 657 secondary metabolites identified, 183 metabolites had anti-disease activity, 113 were key active ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), 73.22% had multiple anti-disease activities, and all were mainly flavonoids and phenolic acids. The main enriched metabolic pathways were phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, flavonoid biosynthesis, and metabolic pathways. Flavonoid and phenolic acid secondary metabolites were more correlated with anti-disease activity and key active TCM ingredients. Conclusion: The types of JGY and Q601 Congou black tea of the relative contents show large differences in secondary metabolites. Flavonoid and phenolic acid secondary metabolites were identified as the primary factors contributing to the variation in secondary metabolites among different varieties of Congou black tea. These compounds also exhibited a stronger correlation with disease resistance activity.

Health Benefits of Tea Polyphenols and Mechanisms via Regulating Gut Microbiota

Tea has been a beloved beverage for centuries, enjoyed by people all over the world. Tea polyphenols, natural bioactive compounds abundant in tea, have gained increasing attention for their potential health-promoting properties. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the multifaceted interactions between tea polyphenols and gut microbiota, shedding light on their roles in health and disease prevention. The opening section provides an in-depth examination of the definition and categorization of tea polyphenols, and their prevalence in various types of tea. Subsequently, the following section conducts an extensive analysis of the crucial role played by gut microbiota and the ways in which tea polyphenols modulate their composition, including their potential as prebiotic agents. In addition, this paper discusses the diverse health-promoting aspects of tea polyphenols, such as their antioxidative properties, anti-inflammatory effects, and their potential impact on conditions like inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and colorectal cancer, furthermore, explores their role in addressing functional disorders like depression and combating fatigue. This paper highlights the intricate interplay between tea polyphenols and gut microbiota and underscores the potential significance of these interactions in promoting health, advancing the understanding of the role of tea polyphenols in wellness and disease prevention.

Interactive effects of environmental factors and fertilization practices on soil nitrate leaching and tea productivity in Tianmu Lake Basin, China

Although the effects of fertilization practices and environmental factors on tea yield and NO3−–N leaching have been acknowledged, the interactive effects of these influencing factors remain unknown. These effects were investigated in this study using the denitrification–decomposition (DNDC) model, which was validated using field data collected from a typical tea garden hillslope in the Tianmu Lake Basin, China. Environmental factors such as temperature, precipitation intensity, slope, saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat), and fertilization practices (fertilizer amount and type) were combined to construct 1080 scenarios. The results revealed that DNDC achieved acceptable performance in simulating NO3−–N leaching under the application of a compound fertilizer (CF) and a slow-release fertilizer (SF). During the calibration period, the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) values were 0.48 and 0.24. During the validation period, the NSE values were 0.71 and 0.67. Scenario analysis indicated that precipitation intensity (p < 0.001), saturated soil hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) (p < 0.001), fertilizer amount (p < 0.001), and fertilizer type (p < 0.001) significantly influenced the leaching flux of NO3−–N and tea yield. The interactive effects of different factors also varied across the different types of fertilizers. The amount of fertilizer had the most significant impact on NO3−–N leaching, with relative contribution rates of 70% and 53% for compound and SFs, respectively. As CF application increased, there was a significant increase (93%) in the average flux, whereas SF application resulted in an increase of only 76%. The highest contribution rate in terms of tea yield was observed for the amount of fertilizer under CF application at 44%. However, the highest contribution rate under SF application was attributed to Ksat at 51%. The application of SFs resulted in a higher yield improvement rate than that of CFs as the fertilizer amount increased, with respective rates of 15% and 8%. Additionally, environmental factors, excluding temperature, exerted opposite effects on tea production and NO3−–N leaching flux. These findings contribute to optimizing fertilization management in tea plantations by integrating multiple environmental factors to control nonpoint nitrogen loss. Future research should conduct long-term monitoring of tea garden yield and nitrogen loss to accurately assess the impact of SF application on the ecological and economic benefits of tea gardens.

SELECTION OF THE OPTIMAL EXTRACTION MODULE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TECHNOLOGY OF PRODUCTION OF BLACK AND GREEN TEA EXTRACTS (Camellia sinensis) WITH HIGH INDICATORS OF ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY

It is known that various factors of extraction, such as the type of solvent, temperature, time, solvent system, degree of grinding of raw materials, extraction modulus significantly affect the level of antioxidant properties of plant products. The aim of our study was to select the optimal extraction module for two types of tea (Camellia sinensis), to obtain extracts with high values of total soluble solids, phenols, flavonoids, tannins, antiradical activity according to the DPPH method, restoring strength according to the FRAP method. The objects of the study were extracts of two types of tea obtained using water, with a grinding degree of 0.5 mm, an extraction temperature of 40–50 °C, an extraction time of 24 h, and various versions of extraction modules 1 : 10, 1 : 15, 1 : 20. The indicator of the content of dry soluble substances in black and green tea reaches high values when using the extraction module 1 : 10 (9% and 9.6%, respectively), the maximum amount of phenolic substances (3139 mg (HA) / 100 g and 2045 mg (HA) / 100 g), flavonoids (1644 mg (K) / 100 g and 718 mg (K) / 100 g), tannins (123 mg catechin / 100 g and 56 mg catechin / 100 g) were extracted from black and green tea extracts at extraction module 1 : 10. The highest index of restorative power was observed in black and green tea extracts with an extraction modulus of 1 : 10 (8.73 mmol Fe2+ / kg and 15.84 mmol Fe2+ / kg). At an extraction modulus of 1 : 10, black and green tea extracts exhibited the least antiradical activity (Ec50 = 0.39 mg / cm3 and Ec50 = 0.69 mg / cm3). Thus, we can recommend the value of the module 1 : 10 as the most acceptable for obtaining extracts from black and green tea with a high level of the studied parameters.

Biosynthesis of TiO2 nanostructures using Camellia sinensis extract (polyphenols) and investigation of their execution as photoanodes in photovoltaic device

Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) are indeed widely recognized and utilized as one of the most prominent photoanode materials in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Therefore continuous efforts have been made to improve the performance of TiO2 photoanodes in terms of light absorption, charge carrier mobility, and overall energy conversion efficiency. Green synthesis methods for the production of TiO2 NPs, including the use of plant-based reducing agents, have gained significant attention in recent years. These methods are considered environmental friendly alternatives to traditional physical and chemical synthesis methods, which often involve the use of hazardous chemicals and complex processes. Therefore, in this work, a variety of tea types, including green, white, black, oolong, pu-erh have been used to synthesize TiO2 NPs. The differences in the amount of phenolic compounds and caffeine in various tea varieties can influence the topology, structure, and composition of the as synthesized nanoparticles (NPs). The prepared TiO2 NPs were comprehensively characterized for particle size, morphology, purity, composition, crystalline nature, structural, electrochemical and photovoltaic capabilities. The as synthesized titanium oxide (TiO2) NPs were spherical in shape and particle sizes ranged from 10 to 20 nm with little agglomerations. For DSSC application, thin films of synthesized TiO2 NPs were prepared by making paste of TiO2 NPs with Triton-X and spread onto conducting substrate (FTO) with the help of glass rod and finally sintering for 1 h at 450 °C. The prepared TiO2 electrodes were dipped in the standard N719 dye solution (0.1 × 10−3 M) in acetonitrile medium overnight for complete adsorption. Overall efficiency = 3.0 %, JSC = 9.72 mA/cm2, VOC = 660 mV and FF = 0.46 was achieved with the DSSC made up with green tea mediated TiO2 NPs based photo anode. Due to high phenolic content and good reductive properties, TiO2 NPs prepared using green tea extract were highly crystalline in nature, have high surface area, high roughness factor, good stability which results in maximum dye loading and hence increase in the overall conversion efficiency.