This study proposed a lightweight YOLOv8n-GCW model to address the challenges of low efficiency in manual disease detection and limited performance in small-scale lesion identification under varying illumination conditions in plateau tea plantations. Based on a dataset of typical diseases in Yunnan large-leaf tea gardens, the model was optimized in three key areas to improve performance: (1) the feature extraction network was reconstructed using GhostNet for edge computing compatibility. (2) The Coordinate attention mechanism was integrated to enhance robustness under complex lighting. (3) The overlapping lesion localization accuracy was optimized through a dynamic Wise-IoUloss function. Experimental results demonstrate that the improved model outperformed the original YOLOv8n, with a 5.6% increase in precision, 4.0% in recall, 5.3 % in F1-score, and 4.5% in mean average precision (mAP@0.5), while reducing the number of parameters by 42.7%. On the validation set, key loss functions decreased by 9.87%-10.74%, and the inference speed reached 53.84FPS, meeting the lightweight deployment requirements of portable agricultural devices. Ablation studies and Grad-CAM visualizations further validated the model's effectiveness. This study provided a lightweight solution for intelligent disease monitoring in plateau tea plantations. Combined with agricultural IoT technology, it held potential for extension to comprehensive smart disease control systems across tea plantations, promoting sustainable development in smart tea cultivation.
α-Farnesene, a key sesquiterpene, modulates aroma quality and stress response in tea plants. α-Farnesene synthase (AFS), the rate-limiting terminal enzyme in its biosynthetic pathway, serves as a core molecular hub linking terpenoid metabolism, stress-resistant breeding, and quality regulation in Camellia sinensis. Based on the terpenoid secondary metabolic network of tea plants, this study systematically reviewed the cloning, identification, expression patterns, and biological functions of the α-farnesene synthase gene (CsAFS) in Camellia sinensis. It further described the synergistic regulatory network composed of transcription factors, phytohormones and environmental signals, and clarified the scientific implications and intrinsic crosstalk mechanisms of tea-specific regulatory modules involving CsAFS. Through cross-species comparative analysis, this paper revealed the evolutionary conservation and species-specific characteristics of CsAFS, and comprehensively dissected its biological roles in stress response, aroma formation and quality regulation. Meanwhile, potential applications of CsAFS in stress-resistant breeding, ecological tea garden construction, and tea processing quality improvement were discussed. In view of current research gaps, such as incomplete functional characterization of gene family members, immature genetic transformation systems, and insufficient compatibility between regulatory strategies and practical tea production, future research priorities were proposed based on cutting-edge advances in tea science. This study aimed to provide theoretical foundations for stress-resistant breeding, ecological cultivation, and quality improvement in tea plants.
This study aimed to isolate and screen elite nitrogen-fixing bacterial strains with multiple plant growth-promoting (PGPR) traits from the rhizosphere of tea plants in the high-altitude Yigong tea area of Xizang, identify their phylogenetic positions, and evaluate their application potential, so as to provide resources and a theoretical basis for developing specialized microbial inoculants for high-altitude tea plantations. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria were isolated using the dilution plate method with Ashby's nitrogen-free medium. Nitrogenase activities of the strains were measured by the acetylene reduction assay. Strain identification was based on morphological, physiological, biochemical characteristics and 16 S rDNA sequence analysis. The abilities of the strains to solubilize phosphate, release potassium, produce siderophores, synthesize indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), as well as their salt tolerance were further determined. Pot experiments using tea plants (the host plants), maize and rapeseed were conducted to verify the practical growth-promoting effects of the strains. The results show that ten nitrogen-fixing bacterial strains were isolated and screened from the tea rhizosphere soil, exhibiting nitrogenase activities ranging from 20.06 to 23.71 nmol·mg-1·h-1. The strains MZ-4-74, SC-5-67, MZ-2-5 and FX-2-86 were Serratia odorifera. The strains FX-3-48, FX-4-31, FX-4-73 and MZ-3-16 were Serratia fonticola. The strains FX-2-66 and FX-3-66 were Pseudomonas koreensis and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, respectively. Functional characterization reveals that all 10 strains could solubilize potassium, 8 strains possessed phosphate solubilizing ability, 9 strains could produce siderophores, and 7 strains could synthesize IAA. Among them, FX-3-48, FX-2-86 and SC-5-67 exhibited strong salt tolerance. The pot experiment results demonstrate that inoculation with all strains significantly promoted the growth of tea, maize and rapeseed seedlings. The FX-3-48 treatment shows the most pronounced effect, increasing the fresh weight, stem diameter, plant height, and root length of tea seedlings by 330.77%, 61.54%, 86.09%, and 94.53%, respectively, compared to the CK control. The rhizosphere of tea plants in Yigong in Xizang area harbors abundant nitrogen-fixing bacterial resources with multiple plant growth-promoting functions. The screened strains exhibit significant potential for development into microbial inoculants, holding great importance for promoting green production in high-altitude tea plantations.
Direct covering is widely used in the production of matcha raw material, with the advantages of easy operation, low cost, and compatibility with mechanized management. However, how shade nets with different materials and colors differentially affect the canopy microenvironment and flavonoid biosynthesis in tea plants remains unclear. In the present study, eight shade nets varying in material and color were applied to the tea cultivar ‘Longjing 43’ in the field to investigate their effects on the canopy microenvironment and flavonoid accumulation in tencha. The results show that direct covering primarily regulated the canopy microenvironment through changes in ultraviolet (UV) radiation, air humidity, and leaf temperature beneath the cover. Net shade percentage was the major determinant of UV intensity under the net. A black inner surface was more effective in reducing leaf temperature, whereas a white outer surface or aluminum-foil material decreased net surface temperature and heat accumulation, thereby lowering the risk of leaf scorching. All covering treatments generally reduced flavonoid accumulation in the processed tencha, with total catechins decreasing by 16.4%-33.6% and total flavonol glycosides by 23.8%-43.3%. Correlation analysis based on both absolute values and treatment-induced changes further demonstrates that reduced UV radiation was the major driver of the decline in flavonoids, particularly flavonol glycosides, whereas a moderate increase in leaf temperature promoted the accumulation of catechins and quercetin glycosides. Therefore, when producing matcha raw materials under direct covering, shade-net types that combine a high shading rate with good heat dissipation properties should be prioritized,in order to both reduce the UV intensity beneath the net and control leaf temperature. This study provided a theoretical basis for optimizing shading practices and designing novel shade nets for the targeted quality regulation of matcha raw materials.
Low temperature is one of the major environmental factors limiting tea production. Elucidating the regulatory network underlying cold tolerance in tea plants and identifying key functional genes provide a theoretical basis for cold-resistant cultivar breeding through molecular approaches. In this study, ‘Longjing 43’ (LJ43) and its closely related variants ‘Zhongcha Huangya 5’ (ZH5) and ‘Zhongcha 108’ (ZC108), which share highly similar genetic backgrounds, were used as materials. Based on phenotypic observations and measurements of relative electrolyte leakage (REL), maximum photochemical efficiency of PSII (Fv/Fm), and malondialdehyde (MDA) content, the cold tolerance of the three cultivars was found to be in the following order: ZH5 > ZC108 > LJ43. Transcriptome sequencing identified 2 384, 4 186, and 4 434 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Among these DEGs, 999 were shared by all three cultivars. Pathway enrichment analysis reveals that these common DEGs were significantly enriched in early cold-responsive biological processes, including plant hormone signal transduction, MAPK signaling cascade and transcriptional regulation, which constituted the core factors underlying the divergent cold resistance of the three tea cultivars. Further analysis identifies cultivar-specific DEGs in LJ43 (899), ZC108 (1 722) and ZH5 (1 504), which were separately enriched in distinct substance metabolism pathways. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) further demonstrates that modules significantly correlated with cold treatment exhibited obvious disparities among the three cultivars. In summary, these results indicate that tea cultivars adopt genotype-specific strategies to cope with cold stress, and such differential responses serve as a critical contributor to the inter-cultivar variation in cold tolerance. This study clarified the molecular basis underlying the differences in cold tolerance between LJ43 and its variants, expanded the current understanding of cold tolerance regulation in tea plants, and provided a theoretical foundation for cold-resistance breeding.
Although national parks are the primary means of conserving biodiversity, they face challenges such as limited coverage and insufficient landscape connectivity. Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs) represent a key mechanism to bridge these conservation gaps. Focusing on Kaihua County, home to the candidate area of Qianjiangyuan National Park, this study utilized data on 17 key bird species to identify conservation gaps via the MaxEnt model and systematic conservation planning. Additionally, a bivariate spatial autocorrelation model was employed to quantify the supplementary value of tea gardens as potential OECMs. The results indicate that the existing national park covers only 20.63% of highly suitable bird habitats, with approximately 80% of these key areas located outside protected boundaries, revealing a distinct conservation gap. A significant positive spatial correlation was found between tea gardens and priority bird conservation areas (Moran’s I =0.238), with tea gardens in the northwest exhibiting significant “High-High” clustering, confirming their spatial congruence. Furthermore, 57.15% of the tea gardens in the study area effectively covered the bird priority protection space outside the Qianjiangyuan National Park, providing critical habitats for rare species such as the Black-throated Bushtit (Aegithalos concinnus). The unique “tree-shrub” composite structure of tea gardens functions as “ecological stepping stones” consistent with the “unintentional conservation” characteristic of OECMs. This kind of production landscape with high ecological value is incorporated into the OECMs management system, thereby improving the connectivity and stability of the overall ecological network.
In light of the low efficiency of premium tea harvesting and the insufficient research on dual-arm task allocation and path planning in existing studies, this study used a common-rail gantry dual-arm harvesting platform as the experimental carrier and proposed a dual-arm collaborative task planning and scheduling method for tea bud harvesting. For multi-target tea bud harvesting tasks, a hybrid path planning algorithm based on GA-2Opt was proposed and combined with a region partitioning strategy guided by time costs to achieve adaptive load balancing between the two arms. Meanwhile, an active collision avoidance scheduling mechanism based on temporal sequences was introduced to mitigate interference conflicts in the dual-arm system at the planning layer. Field experiments demonstrate a picking success rate of approximately 79.7% and an average dual-arm parallelism rate of 93.3%. Compared with traditional partitioning strategies, the system significantly reduced total operating time, with an average picking cycle time of 1.39 s per tea bud. These findings validate the robustness of the collaborative strategy in unstructured environments, and provide a high-efficiency solution for automated premium tea harvesting.
As perchlorate (ClO4-) is almost entirely transferred from fresh tea leaves to made tea, establishing a rapid detection method for ClO4- in tea materials is of critical importance for estimating its residue levels in tea before processing, thus avoiding resource waste. A rapid and selective fluorescence method based on toluidine blue (TB)-assisted liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) was developed in this research for detecting perchlorate in fresh tea leaves. TB acts as a ClO4- specific fluorescent probe, forming an ion-pair complex with ClO4- which is more soluble in low-polar organic solvents than in water. This property facilitates the effective elimination of fluorescence interference from various water-soluble complex in tea by utilizing LLE. This results in significant fluorescence enhancement at 677 nm, enabling both visual and instrumental detection of ClO4-. The method achieved excellent performance in fresh tea leaves: recoveries of 70.7%-75.7%, relative standard deviation (RSD) <11.7%, limit of quantification (LOQ) at 0.15 mg·kg-1, and a total procedure time of 20 min. The entire procedure demonstrates good anti-interference, high selectivity, sensitivity and speed. After correction using a 5-fold correction factor, the accuracy of this method was comparable to that of the UPLC-MS/MS method when analyzing actual fresh tea leaf samples. Among the 12 fresh tea leaf samples tested, the ClO4- content ranged from not detected (ND, <0.15 mg·kg-1) to 0.18 mg·kg-1, with a detection rate of 83.3%. The method achieved an accuracy of 85.7% in determining whether the perchlorate content in fresh tea leaves would exceed the regulatory limit in processed tea products. This method demonstrates high selectivity and sensitivity, along with a rapid detection throughput, making it a promising strategy for the expeditious screening of hazardous analytes in complex sample matrices.
Various bioactive constituents in tea have been found to possess favorable reduction, coordination, biocompatibility and interfacial properties, making them ideal nanocarriers for preparing drug delivery nanomaterials. On the basis of reviewing the performances and drawbacks of primary tea-derived bioactive substances, the reaction mechanisms, technical features of dominant fabrication approaches including in situ growth, coordination self-assembly, blending crosslinking and electrostatic assembly were summarized in this paper, together with the applications of resultant nanocarriers in enhancing ingredient stability as well as realizing sustained, controlled and targeted drug delivery. It was proposed that fabrication procedures, targeted modification and stimuli-responsive design should be further optimized to promote the industrialized application of tea-based nanomaterials in drug delivery.
A liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of nine synthetic pigments illegally added to tea, such as tartrazine and sunset yellow by online purification was established. The samples were first soaked in water, then extracted with ammonia water and methanol solution, purified online by Cyclone-P column, and then determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Under optimized conditions, the nine pigments showed a good linear relationship within the mass concentration range of 0.010-1.0 μg·mL-1, with correlation coefficients greater than 0.999. The limits of quantitation (LOQ) of nine colorants were 0.10-0.50 mg·kg-1. The mean recoveries ranged from 71.5% to 105.9%, with the relative standard deviation of ≤8.7%. This method is simple, rapid, has good selectivity and reproducibility, high sensitivity, accurate and reliable results. It has obvious advantages for the quantitative detection of illegal added pigments to tea samples.
The unique characteristics of γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) tea as a functional food resource have made it a popular healthy beverage and a hot topic in research. This paper reviewed the common strains of microbial fermentation of GABA tea, the research status and application technology of microbial fermentation of GABA tea, and the effects of metabolites on the quality and physiological health effects of GABA tea. Meanwhile, the future research and development of microbially fermented GABA tea were also prospected.
This study compared the adaptability of different green manure varieties in the Gaocong tea gardens of Wuyi Mountain, as well as their effects on tea garden community structure and species diversity, to provide green and efficient technical support for the sustainable management of Gaocong tea gardens in Wuyi Mountain. Seven leguminous green manures were selected as experimental groups for grass cultivation in Gaocong tea gardens, with natural grass as the control (CK). The effects of two consecutive years of grass cultivation on species richness, importance value, ecological niche, community structure, and species diversity in Gaocong tea gardens were investigated, and a hierarchical analysis method was employed for comprehensive evaluation. The results show that a total of 33 species from 32 genera across 22 families of weeds were identified in the experimental area over two years (2023 and 2024), primarily from the Poaceae, Asteraceae, Rosaceae, Polygonaceae, Phyllanthaceae, and Commelinaceae. Continuous grass cultivation reduced weed species, decreased the importance value and ecological niche width of weeds, and altered weed community structure. Different green manure varieties (lines) exhibited varying impacts on weed communities across different years of cultivation, with significant differences in species diversity among green manure varieties. However, overall diversity was lower than the control. Both years of cultivation and green manure variety significantly influenced community diversity and dominance. The results of the hierarchical analysis show that the comprehensive weed control ability was Vigna unguiculata (MN) > Crotalaria pallida (ZS) > Phaseolus aureus (YN) > Cassia tora No.3 (YM003) > Lespedeza cuneata (JT) > Kummerowia striata (JY) > Cassia tora No.7 (YM007) in the first year. And it was YN > MN > ZS > YM003 > JY > JT > YM007 in the second year. In conclusion, continuous grass cultivation can effectively reduce the number of weed species and individual plants in Gaocong tea gardens, while also inhibiting weed growth. Among grass cultivation methods, MN, YN and ZS are the most suitable for managing weeds in Gaocong tea gardens in Wuyi Mountain.
Based on the broad-spectrum antibacterial activity of tea polyphenols (TP), it was hypothesized that TP could suppress the formation of Streptococcus mutans-Candida albicans dual-species biofilms . Preliminary in vitro validation was conducted. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against the mixed biofilms was determined by two-fold serial dilution. Planktonic growth kinetics were monitored by optical-density curves. The MTT colorimetric assay, crystal violet staining, and colony-forming unit were used to determine biofilm metabolic activity, biomass, viable cell number, and adhesion strength, respectively. The expression of virulence-related genes in the biofilms of the two species was analyzed by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR. TP exhibited a MIC of 2.0 mg·mL-1 against the S. mutans-C. albicans dual-species consortium and inhibited planktonic growth in a concentration-dependent manner. TP significantly reduced biofilm metabolic activity, biomass, and viable cell count; At concentrations of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mg·mL-1, adhesion rates dropped to approximately 60%, 20%, and 10%, respectively. The pH of the 24-hour culture supernatant in the TP-treated groups was markedly higher than that of the control and increased with concentration. Mechanistically, TP of 2.0 mg·mL-1 downregulated key virulence gene expression in both species (gtfB, gtfD, gbpA, ftf, glgC in S. mutans and als1, hwp1, ras1 in C. albicans). These results provide initial evidence that TP can disrupt and inhibit mixed S. mutans-C. albicans biofilms in vitro, indicating its potential as a natural agent for modulating oral microecological dysbiosis.
The aging process is inevitably accompanied by a decline in muscle strength and mass,severely impairing the health and quality of life of the elderly population.Epicatechin(EC)is one of the main secondary metabolites found in tea,possesses a variety of biological activities.Previous studies have revealed the anti-aging effects of EC,but its relationship with age-related sarcopenia remains unclear.To investigate the effects and underlying mechanisms of EC on age-related sarcopenia,this study employed naturally aged C57BL/6J mice as a model.A comprehensive evaluation was conducted using a series of methodologies,including animal behavioral tests,muscle index measurements,histological analysis,Elisa assays,transcriptome sequencing and RT-qPCR validation.The results show that compared with the control group,EC treatment significantly improved the grip strength and endurance performance of aged mice(P＜0.05),and significantly increased the muscle index of the gastrocnemius,tibialis anterior,and quadriceps femoris muscles(P＜0.05).The gastrocnemius muscle fibers in the EC treated group were larger in area and more regularly arranged.EC significantly reduced the levels of the inflammatory factors IL-6 and TNF-α in aged mice(P＜0.05).Further transcriptomic sequencing and RT-qPCR validation reveal that EC might downregulate the expression of the BCAA transaminase gene BCAT1 and upregulate the expression of the BCAA transaminase gene BCAT2,as well as the BCAA transporter genes LAT1 and LAT2,thereby regulating muscle protein synthesis.Meanwhile,it could upregulate the expressions of skeletal muscle differentiation-related genes including MyoD,MyoG,MRF4,MCK and Myf5 to alleviate sarcopenia in aged mice.
Afidopyropen is a novel biogenic insecticide with broad application prospects due to its low toxicity and high safety to non-target organisms. To evaluate the safety of afidopyropen use on jasmine flowers, the raw material for jasmine tea, this study investigated the residual behavior of afidopyropen and its metabolite M440I007 during the cultivation, processing, and brewing of jasmine flowers. The dissipation of afidopyropen on jasmine flowers in the field followed first-order kinetic, with a half-life of only 0.5 d, leading to the formation of metabolite M440I007. Both afidopyropen and M440I007 showed concentration effects during the direct drying process of fresh jasmine flowers into dried jasmine, with processing factors of 5.07-6.83 and 4.19-6.82, respectively. In the scenting-drying process, afidopyropen and M440I007 also showed an enrichment trend, with processing factors of 4.55 and 6.79, respectively. The residue level of afidopyropen in the scenting-dried sample (0.038 mg·kg-1) was lower than that in concurrently direct-dried jasmine sample (0.057 mg·kg-1), indicating the migration of the parent pesticide from the flowers to the tea substrate during the scenting process. The total leaching rate of afidopyropen during the brewing of dried jasmine flower was 28.5%-55.8%, with first, second and third infusion leaching rates of 16.0%-33.2%, 8.1%-16.0% and 4.4%-9.3%, respectively. Dietary risk assessment indicated that the chronic risk quotient (RQc) and acute risk quotient (RQa) for afidopyropen and M440I007 in the scenario of consuming jasmine infusion were 0.008% and 0.005%, respectively, demonstrating an acceptable level of dietary risk.
Nitrogen (N) is an essential macronutrient for plant growth and development, and has been the subject of significant research. In recent years, breeding plants with high nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) has become a prominent focus, both theoretically and practically. However, compared with the remarkable research progress achieved in staple food crops such as rice and wheat, little systematic research has been conducted into cash crops. Tea plant (Camellia sinensis) is an important cash crop, with its economic benefits primarily derived from vegetative organs (buds and leaves). Nitrogen plays a crucial role in the growth, morphology, and quality formation of tea leaves. This paper reviewed the effects of nitrogen on tea plant growth and quality, summarized research progress on nitrogen-efficient tea plants from the perspectives of physiological processes, molecular regulatory mechanisms, and genetic foundations, outlined screening criteria for nitrogen-efficient tea cultivars, and provided future research directions.
With the escalating evolution of tourism consumption, tea-culture tourism has emerged as a significant growth driver, making tea-tourism integrated destinations an increasingly popular choice. However, as a niche market segment, these destinations still lack the reputation and influence of traditional scenic areas. Therefore, developing precise marketing strategies tailored to destination characteristics is essential. Grounded in the elaboration likelihood model and language expectancy theory, this study investigated the matching effect between tourism field types (aura field vs. behavior field) and advertising appeals (emotional vs. rational) on tourists’ visitation intentions, along with the underlying mechanisms and boundary conditions. Through three experiments, the results indicate that: (1) There is a significant congruity effect of advertising appeals on tourists’ visitation intentions across different types of tourism fields in tea tourism destinations. Specifically, emotional appeals are more effective than rational appeals in evoking tourists’ visitation intentions for the aura field of tea tourism destinations. (2) This effect is mediated by perceived diagnosticity. In aura field contexts, of tea tourism destinations, emotional appeals are superior to rational appeals in enhancing tourists’ perceived diagnosticity, thereby boosting their visitation intentions. (3) Tourist involvement moderates both the matching effect and the mediation mechanism, with the interaction effect being significant only for high-involvement tourists. By integrating multiple theories and quantifying the concept of the tourism field, this research enriched the theoretical landscape of tea-tourism and provided actionable insights for destination managers to customize advertising strategies based on field characteristics.
Theasaponins are a class of oleanane-type triterpenoid saponins enriched in seeds of Theaceae plants. The high structural diversity but tiny structural differences among theasaponins are challenging analysis, isolation and structural identification of them, making it difficult for the industry to efficiently characterize the saponin profiles in tea seeds. In this study, using seeds from tea cultivar ‘Longjing 43’ as experimental material, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization quadrupole-orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometer (UPLC/ESI-Q-Orbitrap MS), molecular networking, and in silico mass spectrometral data processing were employed. A total of 7 and 26 theasaponins were detected in positive and negative ion modes, respectively. The triterpenoids detected in the positive ion mode were mainly triterpenoid aglycones and their organic acid esters, whereas those detected in the negative ion mode were primarily typical teasaponins characterized by structures containing triterpene aglycones, glycosyl groups and organic acids. The combination of these techniques significantly enhanced the efficiency of theasaponin analysis and the ionization mode of mass spectrometer exhibited a bias in the detection of teasaponins. This study provided a new technical way and perspective for qualitative and quantitative research on theasaponins.
This study systematically investigated the effects of long-term reduction in chemical fertilizer application and organic fertilizer substitution on soil fertility, spring tea yield and quality in tea garden through long-term field positioning experiments. The experiment included four treatments: no fertilizer (NF), conventional fertilization (CF), microbial fertilizer substitution (MF), and organic fertilizer substitution (OF). The results show that the spring tea yields under MF and OF treatments maintained high yield levels, which had no significant differences to those under CF. In terms of quality, compared to CF, the OF treatment increased free amino acid content by 7.8%, while the MF treatment increased caffeine content by 54.8%. Regarding soil properties, MF and OF treatments increased organic matter by 28.4% and 45.5%, and total nitrogen by 11.1% and 24.8%, respectively, compared to CF. OF promoted the formation of large aggregates (>2 mm) and mean weight diameter, significantly improving soil aggregate structure. While both substitution treatments increased carbon and nitrogen contents in aggregates and reduced the silt-clay fraction (<0.053 mm). In terms of enzyme activity, MF had the strongest promoting effects on urease, sucrase and acid phosphatase activities, while OF significantly increased catalase activity. Principal component analysis shows that OF had the highest soil fertility index (0.474), followed by MF (0.225). Correlation analysis indicates that improvements in soil structure (e.g., reduced silt and clay proportion <0.053 mm and increased aggregate proportion of 0.25-2 mm), organic carbon accumulation, and enhancements in available nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients exhibited the strongest positive correlations with spring tea yield and tea quality (e.g., free amino acid and caffeine contents). These factors may represent key soil mechanisms that synergistically enhance tea yield and quality. This study provided theoretical basis and practical reference for chemical fertilizer reduction and substitution, as well as green production in Hunan tea garden.
To clarify the content and composition of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in different types of tea, 13 AGEs derived from lysine and arginine in green tea, white tea, oolong tea, black tea, and dark tea were analyzed using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The results indicate that 9 AGEs were detected in all tea samples, arginine-derived methylglyoxal-hydroimidazolones (MG-Hs) being the predominant. The total AGEs contents in different tea typesfollowed the trend of green tea=white tea>dark tea>black tea>oolong tea (P<0.05). A high catechin content in tea did not effectively inhibit the formation of AGEs. Instead, they might serve as one of the contributing factors to elevated AGEs. This study aimed to characterize the overall profile of AGEs composition in tea, providing a comprehensive evaluation of protein thermal damage during tea processing.
