Quality response of clonal black tea to nitrogen fertiliser, plucking interval and plucking standard

Owuor, P Okinda; Ng’etich, W. K.; Obanda, Martin

doi:10.1002/(sici)1097-0010(200003)80:4<439::aid-jsfa546>3.3.co;2-u

Cited by 16 publications

(29 citation statements)

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“…A yield of 5000 kg made tea per hectare results in about 250 kg N, 50 kg P 2 O 5 , and 120 kg K 2 O removal from the soil (Kamau et al, 2003). Farmers often use more than the recommended (100-200 kg N ha -1 ) fertilizer rates in a bid to increase tea yield (Owuor et al, 2002). The practice acidifies the soils (Wanyoko, 1997) and pollutes the environment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

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Effect of Varying Ratios and Rates of Enriched Cattle Manure on Leaf Nitrogen Content, Yield and Quality of Tea (Camellia sinensis)

Tabu¹,

Kekana²,

Kamau³

2015

JAS

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Tea (Camelia sinensis) a major cash crop in Kenya is normally grown on highly weathered and strongly acidic soils. Non-judicial use of the recommended inorganic compound fertilizer 25:5:5:5s acidifies the soil and pollutes water masses. Integrated soil fertility management, the combined use of organic and inorganic fertilizer is recommended for higher tea yield and soil health. An experiment was carried out in the Eastern Highlands of Kenya to determine the effect of different ratios and rates of enriched cattle manure on leaf nitrogen content, yield and quality of tea. Inorganic compound fertilizer 25:5:5:5s led to the highest N level in the mature leaf. Enriching organic manures with inorganic fertilizers increased the yield but reduced the quality. Tea quality parameters Theaflavins (TF) and Thearubigins decreased with increase in fertilizer rate irrespective of fertilizer type. Caffeine content however increased with increasing rate fertilizer especially in the case of inorganic compound fertilizer 25:5:5:5. Enriching organic manures with inorganic fertilizers increased the N content in the mature leaf and crop yield but reduced the quality. The study showed the beneficial effect of enriched manures in tea production.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…7, No. 5;2015 CTC machine, fermented at 22 o C for 90 minutes and then fired using miniature fluid bed drier (Tea craft, UK) at 120 o C for 20 minutes before lowering to 100 o C for 10 minutes to achieve a moisture content of about 3%.…”

Section: Quality (Theaflavin Thearubigins and Caffeine) Determinationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Varying Ratios and Rates of Enriched Cattle Manure on Leaf Nitrogen Content, Yield and Quality of Tea (Camellia sinensis)

Tabu¹,

Kekana²,

Kamau³

2015

JAS

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“…The levels of the individual and total unsaturated fatty acids increased (P ≤ 0.05) with longer plucking intervals at all locations (Tables 2 and 3), explaining in part the general black tea aroma quality declines with long plucking intervals even when plucking standard is the same (Owuor et al, 2000). The magnitudes and patterns of the changes varied with sites of production.…”

Section: Changes In Fatty Acids In Tea Leavesmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…Plucking interval influences the aroma quality of black tea, especially, shorter plucking intervals improve the aroma quality of black tea (Baruah et al, 1986, Owuor et al, 2000. At single sites, the unsaturated fatty acids levels increased with maturity of the shoot (Bhuyan et al, 1991, Owuor et al, 1990) implying a tendency to produce poor flavoury black tea with coarse plucking standard.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Production Locations and Plucking Intervals on Clonal Tea Fatty Acids Levels in the Kenya Higlands

Okal

Owuor

Kamau³

et al. 2012

FSTR

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Tea leaves contain unsaturated fatty acids which are precursors of aroma compounds. Despite uniform plucking practices in Kenya, plain black tea quality varies with locations. Variations in tea aroma and/or precursors with production area have not been established in a single cultivar under same agronomic input at different locations. Trials were conducted in five locations using clone BBK 35, harvested at varying intervals. The fatty acids varied (P ≤ 0.05) with locations and increased (P ≤ 0.05) with long plucking intervals, demonstrating leaf of same standard plucked at varying intervals contains different levels of fatty acids even in one location. The different increase rates in various locations might be in part the reason of the differences in aroma of black tea from different locations even when agronomic inputs are similar. Results demonstrate that harvesting at shorter intervals and developing region-specific plucking policies may improve tea quality.Keywords: tea, Camellia sinensis, fatty acids, plucking interval, location of production *To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: owuorpo@africaonline.co.ke IntroductionTea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) yields and black tea quality are influenced by agronomic practices, especially plucking (Owuor, 1996). Plucking is an expensive undertaking (Ellis and Grice, 1981) and constitute up to 80% of the total field cost of tea production (Sharma, 1987). During this process young tender shoots are harvested for processing into various tea beverages. The recommended plucking standard in tea is two leaves and a bud that gives desirable good quality teas (Othieno, 1988), although there are producers harvesting mature leaf. In practice, it is very difficult to exclusively achieve the recommended standard in commercial tea harvesting as various portions of different standards leaf are usually plucked and the amount of coarse fraction and fine fraction in the plucked crop determines the overall leaf quality.Shoots of similar two leaves and a bud can be obtained through optimizing harvesting intervals when most leaves are in the stage of two leaves and a bud. Plucking frequency is therefore an important factor which controls the proportions of different leaf standard in the harvested crop (Odhiambo, 1989) and influences yield (Owuor et al., 2009) and tea quality (Baruah et al., 1986, Owuor et al., 2009. Flavoury black teas are valued for their unique smell attributed to the levels and distribution of the volatile flavour compounds (VFC) (Robison and Owuor, 1992) while plain teas are valued for their taste, briskness and colour characteristics, which are influenced by non-volatile (theaflavin and thearubigin) components. The VFC in tea can further be classified into primary and secondary products (Sanderson and Graham, 1973). The primary aroma compounds are biosynthesized by the plant and are present in the fresh tea leaf, while the secondary products are derived from carotenes, amino acids, unsaturated fatty acids and other lipids (Robinson and Owuor, 19...

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“…Cultural practices, is one of the factors that has been shown to significantly influence growth, yield and quality of herbal teas (Owour et al, 1990(Owour et al, , 2000Venkatesh et al, 2007). Pruning is an important cultural practice that has been shown to enhance both productivity and quality of Camellia sinensis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of pruning on carbohydrate dynamics of herbal and medicinal plant species: Prospects leading to research on the influence of pruning on productivity and biochemical composition of bush tea (Athrixia phylicoides D.C.)

Marasha¹,

Mariga²,

Ngezimana³

et al. 2013

Afr. J. Agric. Res.

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Pruning is an essential agronomic practice and it has been shown to be the most important operation, next to plucking, which directly determines the productivity and quality of tea bushes. In tea, pruning helps stimulate vegetative growth and prevent reproductive growth phase. In addition, pruning leads to enhanced branching and hence it rejuvenates the tea plants resulting in a greater number of tender leaves for healthier and better quality tea plants. This review illustrates the effects of pruning on yield and quality of herbal teas. Through the review, it is worthy investigating the effect of pruning and pruning time on yield and chemical compositions. It will also shed light on the effects of resting period before pruning. Lastly the review focuses on the effect of different pruning intervals on productivity of tea.

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Quality response of clonal black tea to nitrogen fertiliser, plucking interval and plucking standard

Cited by 16 publications

References 0 publications

Effect of Varying Ratios and Rates of Enriched Cattle Manure on Leaf Nitrogen Content, Yield and Quality of Tea (Camellia sinensis)

Effect of Varying Ratios and Rates of Enriched Cattle Manure on Leaf Nitrogen Content, Yield and Quality of Tea (Camellia sinensis)

Effects of Production Locations and Plucking Intervals on Clonal Tea Fatty Acids Levels in the Kenya Higlands

Effect of pruning on carbohydrate dynamics of herbal and medicinal plant species: Prospects leading to research on the influence of pruning on productivity and biochemical composition of bush tea (Athrixia phylicoides D.C.)

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