Although tea is grown in agro-ecological regions widely varying in environmental factors affecting yield and quality, planters usually import genetic materials across the different growing regions assuming genotypes w...Although tea is grown in agro-ecological regions widely varying in environmental factors affecting yield and quality, planters usually import genetic materials across the different growing regions assuming genotypes with good quality attributes in one location maintain their status in all regions. However, tea quality has not been replicated in new production regions. Black tea quality is influenced by the green leaf quality precursors including caffeine, total polyphenols and individual flavan-3-ols which are precursors of theaflavins and thearubigins, key plain black tea quality parameters. Factors influencing levels of the precursors compounds have not been quantified for popular Kenyan tea cultivars. The influence of geographical production location and seasons on levels and ratios of the quality precursors for 10 black tea popular clones grown in three locations in Kenya under uniform agronomic inputs were monitored. Caffeine varied significantly （P _〈 0.05） with clones and location but not with season. The flavan-3-ols and their ratios all varied （P 〈 0.05） with clones and site but not with season, with significant interactions （P 〈 0.05） between locations and clones, and locations and seasons. These results explain the observed variations in plain black tea quality due to clones and location of production. Thus, farmers in different locations are unlikely to produce black tea of same quality. It is therefore necessary to evaluate new tea genotypes in intended growing areas to establish cultivars suitable for producing high quality plain black teas in the locations. Seasonal variations in plain black tea in Kenya are unlikely to vary significantly due to flavan-3-ols.展开更多
文摘Although tea is grown in agro-ecological regions widely varying in environmental factors affecting yield and quality, planters usually import genetic materials across the different growing regions assuming genotypes with good quality attributes in one location maintain their status in all regions. However, tea quality has not been replicated in new production regions. Black tea quality is influenced by the green leaf quality precursors including caffeine, total polyphenols and individual flavan-3-ols which are precursors of theaflavins and thearubigins, key plain black tea quality parameters. Factors influencing levels of the precursors compounds have not been quantified for popular Kenyan tea cultivars. The influence of geographical production location and seasons on levels and ratios of the quality precursors for 10 black tea popular clones grown in three locations in Kenya under uniform agronomic inputs were monitored. Caffeine varied significantly （P _〈 0.05） with clones and location but not with season. The flavan-3-ols and their ratios all varied （P 〈 0.05） with clones and site but not with season, with significant interactions （P 〈 0.05） between locations and clones, and locations and seasons. These results explain the observed variations in plain black tea quality due to clones and location of production. Thus, farmers in different locations are unlikely to produce black tea of same quality. It is therefore necessary to evaluate new tea genotypes in intended growing areas to establish cultivars suitable for producing high quality plain black teas in the locations. Seasonal variations in plain black tea in Kenya are unlikely to vary significantly due to flavan-3-ols.
