Application of Tea-Specific Fertilizer Combined with Organic Fertilizer Improves Aroma of Green Tea

Abstract

The application of organic fertilizer has been one of the most important agricultural practices to increase tea plant productivity. However, a single organic fertilizer alone could not match the nutrient requirements of tea plant. According to the nutrient demand of tea plant, tea-specific fertilizer with an appropriate nutrient ratio in combination with organic fertilizer would be an appropriate way. A four-year field experiment was conducted to characterize the sensory quality of green tea subjected to four different fertilization treatments, i.e., tea-specific fertilizer (N-P2O5-K2O: 18-8-12) + urea + colza cake, tea-specific fertilizer + urea + livestock waste compost, and tea-specific fertilizer + urea, combined tea-specific fertilizer (referred to as M1, M2, and M3, respectively); nonfertilizing (CK) served as control. The fertilizer formulated specifically for tea could enhance the taste qualities of green tea, such as water extract, caffeine, tea polyphenol, EGCG, and ECG. However, the effect of this fertilizer on enhancing the aroma level of green tea was weaker than that of the application of tea-specific fertilizer combined with organic fertilizer, whereby this combined fertilization significantly improved the concentration of green tea aroma compounds, such as D-limonene, cis-jasmone, nonanal, linalool, cis-3-hexenyl hexanoate, and cis-3-hexenyl benzoate. This study provides a theoretical basis for judicious fertilization by combining tea-specific fertilizer and organic fertilizer in tea orchards.

Analysis of the effect of different withering methods on tea quality based on transcriptomics and metabolomics

“…Amino acids and derivatives and nucleotides and derivatives were reported to be important substances in the formation of the fresh and brisk taste of tea leaves, and the higher the content of these substances, the stronger the fresh and brisk taste of tea leaves ( Zhang et al., 2019 ; Huang et al., 2022 ; Zhang et al., 2022a ); Flavonoids and phenolic acids were related to the bitterness of tea leaves, and reducing the content of flavonoids and phenolic acids could reduce the bitterness of tea leaves ( Fan et al., 2022 ; Wang et al., 2023 ); Organic acids and alkaloids were related to the taste thickness of tea leaves, and increasing their content was beneficial to improve the taste thickness of tea leaves ( Wang et al., 2022a ; Zhang et al., 2022b ); Lipids and terpenoids were important substances for the formation of tea aroma, and the higher their content, the stronger the aroma of tea leaves ( Chen et al., 2022a ; Hong et al., 2023 ; Ye et al., 2023 ). The premier processing of Wuyi rock tea includes several steps.…”

Optimization of nutrient management improves productivity, quality and sustainability of albino tea cultivar Baiye-1

“…The specially formulated compound fertilizer contained Mg and provided additional Mg (16 kg MgO ha -1 ), which might also play a role ( Ruan et al., 2012 ; He et al., 2023 ). A recent field experiment showed that application of tea-specific fertilizer together with rapeseed cake manure improves the aroma of green tea ( Huang et al., 2022 ).…”

“…On the other hand, organic fertilizers such as de-oiled rapeseed cake manure and decomposed livestock and poultry excrement were important nutrient sources for tea plantations ( Ni et al., 2019 ; Sun et al., 2021 ). Combining application of organic manures with chemical fertilizers is recommended as a practical solution to reduce the input of chemical fertilizers and to improve nutrient use efficiency without negative impact on tea yield and quality ( Wang et al., 2020b ; Huang et al., 2022 ; Ma et al., 2022 ). There were large body of information concerning nutrition characteristics and fertilization of normal green-leaf cultivars.…”

A comprehensive metabolomics analysis of volatile and non-volatile compounds in matcha processed from different tea varieties

“…The tea polyphenols were extracted by 70 % methanol aqueous solution in 70 °C water bath, and then the –OH group in tea polyphenols was oxidized by Folin–Ciocalteu reagent, the maximum absorption wavelength was 765 nm, and the tea polyphenols were quantified by gallic acid as calibration standard. The analysis of caffeine and catechin components was performed using the HPLC method as described previously ( Huang et al, 2022 ). The experiments of each group were repeated three times.…”