Metabolomics Analysis Reveals the Compositional Differences of Shade Grown Tea (Camellia sinensis L.)

Abstract

The different cultivation methods affect tea quality by altering the basic metabolite profiles. In this study, the metabolome changes were investigated in green tea and shade cultured green tea (tencha) by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) coupled with a multivariate data set. The principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal projection to latent structures discriminate analysis (OPLS-DA) of green tea clearly showed higher levels of galloylquinic acid, epigallocatechin, epicatechin, succinic acid, and fructose, together with lower levels of gallocatechin, strictinin, apigenin glucosyl arabinoside, quercetin p-coumaroylglucosyl-rhamnosylgalactoside, kaempferol p-coumaroylglucosylrhamnosylgalactoside, malic acid, and pyroglutamic acid than tencha. The effects of some seasonal variations were also observed in the primary metabolite concentrations such as amino acids and organic acids. In addition, green tea showed stronger antioxidant activity than tencha in both April and July. The antioxidant activity of green tea samples were significantly correlated with their total phenol and total flavonoid contents. This present study delineates the possibility to get high umami and less astringent green teas in shade culture. It highlights the metabolomic approaches to find out the effect of cultivation methods on chemical composition in plants and the relationship with antioxidant activity.

Influence of 1-Methylcyclopropene Treatment on Postharvest Quality of Four Scab (Venturia inaequalis)-Resistant Apple Cultivars

“…The homogenate was centrifuged twice for 10 min at 4,000 . The supernatant was collected and used to determine total phenolic content using a colorimetric Folin-Ciocalteu method as previously described by Ku et al [16]. Briefly, 10 L of sample extracts was mixed with 0.2 N Folin-Ciocalteu phenol reagent (100 L) in a 96-well plate.…”

“…Antioxidant capacity was evaluated using 2,2 -azinobis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) methods according to Ku et al [16]. Briefly, the ABTS method involved dissolving 7 mM ABTS (ammonium salt) in potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) and combining with 2.45 mM potassium persulfate.…”

Small molecule-sensing strategy and techniques for understanding the functionality of green tea

“…Although polyphenols have many health-promoting effects, the relationship between these compounds and the inhibition of MRLC phosphorylation in human endothelial cells remain unclear. These polyphenols differed from those reported by Ku et al 112,113) Additionally, such polyphenols, especially anthocyanins, were barely detected in the most consumed and distributed Japanese Notes: (A) PCA score plot shows separate clustering of metabolic profiles corresponding to Nou-6 and SR, and other cultivars. The number in the figure indicates the bioactivity ranking of tea cultivars.…”

“…112,113) They suggested that several polyphenolic compounds were associated with a specific manufacturing type or cultivation method. In contrast, we investigated relationships between metabolomic data and health-promoting effects in 43 green tea cultivars.…”

Physicochemical properties of Turkish green tea powder: effects of shooting period, shading, and clone

“…In this manner, green tea becomes flavor-rich before it is hand-harvested (Hirai et al, 2008). Shading leads to greener, tastier, and less astringent tea leaves and, thereby, attracts the consumer (Ku et al, 2009). After harvest, the young shoots are processed into green tea powder by series of processing steps: steaming; drying; removing of stems, midribs, and veins; and fine stone milling (Tokunaga, 2004).…”