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A special issue of Horticulturae (ISSN 2311-7524). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicinals, Herbs, and Specialty Crops".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2022) | Viewed by 27627

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Jianyun Ruan

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Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310008, China
Interests: plant nutrition and fertilization; soil science; agronomy; ecophysiology of tea plant; tea quality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Xinchao Wang

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Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310008, China
Interests: genetic breeding and stress resistance mechanism of tea plant
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Dr. Qunfeng Zhang

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Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310058, China
Interests: plant physiology; metabolism; tea plant; nutrition; tea quality
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Dr. Xinyuan Hao

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Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hangzhou 310008, China
Interests: growth and development; abiotic stress response; genetic transformation and editing; molecular breeding
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Prof. Dr. Chaoling Wei

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State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
Interests: genetics and breeding of tea plant, and stress response mechanism of tea plant
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Prof. Dr. Zhaoliang Zhang

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State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
Interests: theanine metabolism and transport; epigenetic regulation of secondary metabolism in tea plants; nutrient use efficiency in tea plants
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Prof. Dr. Chuankui Song

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State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China
Interests: secondary metabolism and regulation in tea plants; the function of secondary metabolites in plant-environment interactions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As a health drink, tea has a long history and profound cultural accumulation and is loved by consumers all over the world. As one of the most important parts of horticultural research, tea plant biology has experienced a long period of accumulation and ushered in a golden period of rapid development. With the deciphering of the genome and the application of new technologies, remarkable progress has been made in tea plant genetics, breeding, growth and development, regulation of secondary metabolic pathways, stress response, defense mechanisms, etc. Moreover, tea quality analysis and in-depth exploration of health effects provide unprecedented opportunities for the diversified utilization of tea. At this important stage, it is very necessary to summarize the latest achievements in time, so as to provide information support for researchers and industry experts in tea science and related fields. A Special Issue, "Advances in Tea Plant Biology and Tea Quality Regulation", will be set up to show such advances.

Prof. Dr. Jianyun Ruan
Prof. Dr. Xinchao Wang
Prof. Dr. Qunfeng Zhang
Dr. Xinyuan Hao
Prof. Dr. Chaoling Wei
Prof. Dr. Zhaoliang Zhang
Prof. Dr. Chuankui Song
Guest Editors

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Horticulturae is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

tea plant
genetics
growth and development
secondary metabolism
molecular breeding
stress and resistance
tea quality
health effects

Related Special Issue

Advances in Tea Plant Biology and Tea Quality Regulation, Volume II in Horticulturae (1 article)

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Research

10 pages, 587 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Soil Physical and Chemical Properties on the Quality of Nanjing ‘Yuhua’ Tea, a Type of Famous Green Tea

by Zemao Liu, Deyu Yang, Guangtao Zhang, Lihong Zheng, Chen Chen, Xin Sun and Fangyuan Yu

Horticulturae 2023, 9(2), 189; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae9020189 - 02 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2651

Abstract

Tea has become one of the most popular drinks worldwide because of its special taste and health benefits. ‘Yuhua’ tea is a famous specialty of Nanjing, China, a green tea produced from Camelia sinensis. It belongs to the green tea category and is one of the top ten most famous teas in China. The physical and chemical properties of soil are very important to the quality of tea. However, at present, there are few instances of research on the soil of the ‘Yuhua’ tea cultivation area. To provide the theoretical basis for improving the final quality of ‘Yuhua’ tea by soil management measures, the effects of the soil’s physical and chemical properties on the contents of important chemical components (free amino acids, tea polyphenols, and caffeine) of ‘Yuhua’ tea in three different cultivation areas in Nanjing were studied. The quality of ‘Yuhua’ tea is greatly influenced by the physical and chemical properties of the soil in which the tea plant grows. The free amino acid content and tea polyphenol content of tea leaves were significantly and negatively correlated with soil bulk density, pH, and water-soluble calcium content, while a significantly positive correlation was noticed between the two criteria and soil effective nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium content. Additionally, the growth of the tea tree will be hampered and perhaps stressed if the soil’s helpful mineral concentration is too low. The tea tree may produce more caffeine as a result, which could lower the quality of the tea leaves. Therefore, implementing targeted soil management techniques is the key to promoting tea tree growth and improving tea quality. This study laid the foundation for the adoption of corresponding soil management measures to improve the quality of ‘Yuhua’ tea. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Tea Plant Biology and Tea Quality Regulation)

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13 pages, 1383 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Response of Nutritional Status and Tea Quality to the Rate and Substitution of Chemical Fertilizers with Organic Manure

by Lifeng Ma, Yun Zhu, Saipan Geng and Jianyun Ruan

Horticulturae 2022, 8(12), 1198; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8121198 - 15 Dec 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1605

Abstract

Proper fertilization is important to sustainable tea production. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the response of quality components in a chlorotic tea variety (Zhonghuang-2) to rates of fertilizers and the substitution ratio of chemical fertilizers by organic manure based on rapeseed cake. Chlorotic tea varieties have unique metabolic characteristics and produce superior tea containing high contents of free amino acids. Results showed that fertilization significantly increased yield and contents of free amino acid (TFAA) but reduced contents of total polyphenol (TP) and the ratio of TP/TFAA. Contents of TFAA and TP and the TP/TFAA ratio were closely related to nitrogen (N) concentrations in plant tissues in response to the rate of N fertilizers. The results suggest that the quality-related components in the chlorotic tea variety respond to fertilizers in a similar way as normal tea varieties. The optimal rates of N, phosphorus (P), and potassium fertilizers were discussed and recommended based on the response of quality components of tea and the contents of nutrients in plants and soil. The full substitution of chemical fertilizers by organic manure showed no special benefit on tea quality and had lower N and P agronomic use efficiency due to a low bioavailability of nutrients. The partial substitution of chemical fertilizers by organic manure significantly improved tea yield, quality, profit, and economic and environmental sustainability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Tea Plant Biology and Tea Quality Regulation)

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16 pages, 4989 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Prediction Method of the Moisture Content of Black Tea during Processing Based on the Miniaturized Near-Infrared Spectrometer

by Hanting Zou, Shuai Shen, Tianmeng Lan, Xufeng Sheng, Jiezhong Zan, Yongwen Jiang, Qizhen Du and Haibo Yuan

Horticulturae 2022, 8(12), 1170; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8121170 - 09 Dec 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2378

Abstract

The moisture content of black tea is an important factor affecting its suitability for processing and forming the unique flavor. At present, the research on the moisture content of black tea mainly focuses on a single withering step, but the research on the rapid detection method of moisture content of black tea applicable to the entire processing stage is ignored. This study is based on a miniaturized near-infrared spectrometer(micro−NIRS) and establishes the prediction models for black tea moisture content through machine learning algorithms. We use micro−NIRS for spectroscopic data acquisition of samples. Linear partial least squares (PLS) and nonlinear support vector regression (SVR) were combined with four spectral pre−processing methods, and principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to establish the predictive models. In addition, we combine the gray wolf optimization algorithm (GWO) with SVR for the prediction of moisture content, aiming to establish the best prediction model of black tea moisture content by optimizing the selection of key parameters (c and g) of the kernel function in SVR. The results show that SNV, as a method to correct the error of the spectrum due to scattering, can effectively extract spectral features after combining with PCA and is better than other pre−processing methods. In contrast, the nonlinear SVR model outperforms the PLS model, and the established mixed model SNV−PCA−GWO−SVR achieves the best prediction effect. The correlation coefficient of the prediction set and the root mean square error of the prediction set are 0.9892 and 0.0362, respectively, and the relative deviation is 6.5001. Experimental data show that the moisture content of black tea can be accurately and effectively determined by micro-near-infrared spectroscopy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Tea Plant Biology and Tea Quality Regulation)

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13 pages, 2911 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rapid Detection of Moisture Content in the Processing of Longjing Tea by Micro-Near-Infrared Spectroscopy and a Portable Colorimeter Based on a Data Fusion Strategy

by Xuyan Zong, Xufeng Sheng, Li Li, Jiezhong Zan, Yongwen Jiang, Hanting Zou, Shuai Shen and Haibo Yuan

Horticulturae 2022, 8(11), 1007; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8111007 - 31 Oct 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1449

Abstract

Moisture content (MC) is an important indicator to monitor the quality of Longjing tea during processing; therefore, it becomes more critical to develop digital moisture content detection methods for processing. In this study, based on a micro-near infrared (NIR) spectrometer and portable colorimeter, we used Longjing tea under the full processing process as the research object, and used competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) and a principal component analysis (PCA) to extract characteristic bands of spectral data as well as the principal component reduction processing of the color difference and glossiness data, respectively, combined with sensor data fusion technology to establish a quantitative prediction model of the partial least squares (PLS) for the moisture content of Longjing tea. The PLS quantitative moisture content prediction model, based on middle-level data fusion, obtained the best prediction accuracy and model robustness, with the correlation coefficient of the prediction set (

R_{p}

) and the root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) being 0.9823 and 0.0333, respectively, with a residual predictive deviation (RPD) of 6.5287. The results indicate that a data fusion of a micro NIR spectrometer and portable Colorimeter is feasible to establish a quantitative prediction model of the moisture content in Longjing tea processing, while multi-sensor data fusion can overcome the problem of a low prediction accuracy for the model established by single sensor data. More importantly, data fusion based on low-cost, fast, and portable detection sensors can provide new ideas and methods for real-time online detection in Longjing tea in actual production. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Tea Plant Biology and Tea Quality Regulation)

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13 pages, 1333 KiB

Open AccessArticle

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

by Danjuan Huang, Youping Wang, Xun Chen, Jiong Wu, Hongjuan Wang, Rongrong Tan, Long Jiao and Yingxin Mao

Horticulturae 2022, 8(10), 950; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8100950 - 14 Oct 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2065

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. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Tea Plant Biology and Tea Quality Regulation)

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20 pages, 4830 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Functional Characterization of Tea Plant (Camellia sinensis L.) CsCBF2 Gene Involved in Multiple Abiotic Stress Response in Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.)

by Qiying Zhou, Dongxiao Liu, Yiwan Wei, Ning Ma, Ruijiao Zhang, Zengya Zhang, Changjun Jiang and Hongyu Yuan

Horticulturae 2022, 8(9), 853; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8090853 - 19 Sep 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1500

Abstract

C-repeat binding factors/dehydration responsive element binding factors 1 (CBFs/DREB1s) are a small family of transcription factors that play important roles in plant resistance to various external stresses. However, functional characterization of tea plant (Camellia sinensis L.) CBF gene (CsCBF) was still seldom reported. Here, functional study of the cold-responsive CBF gene (CsCBF2) was done. Results showed that CsCBF2 had conserved AP2 DNA-binding domain and the typical PKK/RPAGRxKFxETRHP and DSAWR signature sequences of CBF/DREB1. Yeast one-hybrid and transcription activation assays revealed that the activation domain of CsCBF2 could activate the reporter gene expression, and the N terminal of CsCBF2 displayed an inhibitory effect. Although CsCBF2 was conserved to bind the C-repeat/dehydration-responsive element (CRT/DRE), intact CsCBF2 protein preferred the CRT cis element. Under normal growth conditions, CsCBF2-overexpressing tobacco plants (CsCBF2-OX) exhibited lighter green leaf color, growth retardation, and dwarfism. Smaller leaf of CsCBF2-OX was only seen in eight weeks after been sown in soil. Under cold, salinity, or drought stress, CsCBF2-OX displayed better growing with longer roots, heavier fresh weight, higher germination rate, and accumulated more proline and sugar contents, but lower electrolyte leakage. The results demonstrated that CsCBF2 enhanced plant tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Tea Plant Biology and Tea Quality Regulation)

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12 pages, 3507 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Lipidomics Analysis of Tea Leaves Cultured in Hydroponics Reveals That High Nitrogen Application Decreases Tea Plant Resistance to Ultraviolet Radiation

by Sijia Du, Meiya Liu, Fang Dong, Chuan Yue, Jianyun Ruan, Hongli Cao and Qunfeng Zhang

Horticulturae 2022, 8(8), 724; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8080724 - 11 Aug 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1596

Abstract

Lipid composition in tea leaves is significantly affected by ultraviolet (UV) radiation and nitrogen levels. Here, to reveal the response of lipids in tea plants (Camellia sinensis L.) to the interaction between nitrogen and UV radiation, we treated tea plants with three gradients of UV radiation under two nitrogen levels by the hydroponic method. Lipidomics results show that ultraviolet radiation can decrease neutral lipid (TAG) and increase membrane lipids (including PC, PE, and PG) under hydroponic conditions, indicating that tea plants could survive UV radiation by decomposing TAG to avoid damaging cells. In addition, the accumulation of phospholipids and galactolipids may be related to avoiding UV damage and enhancing photosynthesis in tea plants under UV radiation. Furthermore, the response of lipid components to UV radiation in tea plants under low nitrogen conditions is significantly lower than that under high nitrogen conditions, which suggests that excessive nitrogen application may reduce the resistance of tea plants to UV radiation. This study provides a theoretical basis for optimizing cultivation measures based on tea UV resistance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Tea Plant Biology and Tea Quality Regulation)

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13 pages, 3164 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Biochemical and Proteome Analysis Reveal Different Nutritional Compound Compositions and Chloroplast Development Situations between Purple-Red and White-Yellow Tea Plant Cultivars

by Yi Ding, Xinchao Wang, Hongchun Cui and Yun Zhao

Horticulturae 2022, 8(8), 685; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8080685 - 28 Jul 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1373

Abstract

Across the world, most of the main tea plant cultivars are green-leaf cultivars, but colored-leaf cultivars have become increasingly popular in recent years. In this research, the differences between purple-red and white-yellow tea plant cultivars were compared on biochemical and proteome levels. White-yellow cultivars had significantly high amino acid (AA) content and low polyphenols/amino acid (PP/AA), while purple-red cultivars showed high PP/AA. Comprehensive analysis of all nutritional compounds revealed that most of them showed significant positive correlations, except AA, and that there were significant negative correlations between AA and other compounds. The nutritional compounds of some individual cultivars differed from the average trend of the classification, using color as a criterion. Twenty-one differential proteins were detected in the purple-red and yellow-white cultivars. Among these proteins, there were 16 upregulated proteins and 5 downregulated proteins in purple-red cultivars. Most of these proteins act in the photosynthetic system. This indicated that tea plants with purple-red leaves performed better in photosynthesis than yellow-white tea plant cultivars. The chloroplast development of white-yellow tea plant cultivars was obstructed and may introduce AA accumulation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Tea Plant Biology and Tea Quality Regulation)

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14 pages, 2679 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Shaking and Withering Processes on the Aroma Qualities of Black Tea

by Jiazheng Lin, Zheng Tu, Hongkai Zhu, Lin Chen, Yuwan Wang, Yunfei Yang, Haowei Lv, Yan Zhu, Liaoyuan Yu and Yang Ye

Horticulturae 2022, 8(6), 549; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8060549 - 18 Jun 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2059

Abstract

Combined withering and shaking processes are key steps in the formation of characteristic floral and fruity aromas in black teas. However, the effect of the sequencing of withering and shaking on volatile compounds and aroma formation in black tea has not been evaluated to date. This study used headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to detect volatile compounds in black teas after withering-shaking and shaking-withering processing. Five main differentially volatile components were screened out by partial least squares discriminant analysis and odor activity value analysis, which were 3-carene, geraniol, β-myrcene, τ-cadinol, and β-ionone. Additionally, sensory evaluation showed black tea produced by withering-shaking was fruitier, while shaking-withering produced a more floral tea. This study provides a theoretical basis for the discrimination of aroma characteristics of black tea processed by shaking, as well as a technical guide for the precise production of black teas with different floral-fruity aroma biases. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Tea Plant Biology and Tea Quality Regulation)

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19 pages, 1748 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Manipulation of the Phenolic Quality of Assam Green Tea through Thermal Regulation and Utilization of Microwave and Ultrasonic Extraction Techniques

by Kanjana Singh, Somdet Srichairatanakool, Teera Chewonarin, Charles Stephen Brennan, Margaret Anne Brennan, Wannaporn Klangpetch and Niramon Utama-ang

Horticulturae 2022, 8(4), 338; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8040338 - 16 Apr 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2317

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the catechin levels and antioxidant activities as manipulated by roasting temperature and roasting time of green tea. Roasting temperature and time varied between 100–300 °C and 60–240 s in green tea production. The main interactions measured were effects on the antioxidant activities, total phenolic content, DPPH, ABTS, FRAP and catechin content (catechin (C), epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epigallocatechin (EGC), epicatechin gallate (ECG) and epicatechin (EC)). Optimum roasting conditions were determined as 270 °C for 240 s, since this enabled high catechin contents, antioxidant activities and production yield. The extraction methods for green tea including traditional extraction (TDE), microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and ultrasonic-assisted extraction (UAE) using 60% ethanol as solvent were investigated to evaluate the highest bioactive compound and yield of extraction. MAE was found to be more efficient in green tea extraction compared to UAE and TDE. The extracts showed significant cytotoxic potential against the Huh-7 cell line, in concentrations ranging from 31.25 to 1000 µg/mL. The results are useful in understanding the relationship between thermal treatment and extraction conditions on the chemical and nutritional properties of tea catechins, making it possible to select the production and extraction conditions that maximize the levels of beneficial tea ingredients. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Tea Plant Biology and Tea Quality Regulation)

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15 pages, 3127 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Characterization of Young Shoot Population, Yield, and Nitrogen Demands of Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) Harvested under Different Standards

by Lizhi Long, Yuanzhi Shi, Lifeng Ma and Jianyun Ruan

Horticulturae 2022, 8(4), 275; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8040275 - 22 Mar 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2214

Abstract

The quality of green tea is greatly influenced by the harvest standards for young shoots. The present field experiment was conducted to characterize the young shoot populations, yields, and nitrogen (N) demands of tea plants subjected to four different harvest standards, i.e., buds with one, two, or three young expanding leaves (referred to as B1L, B2L, and B3L, respectively) and a combination of B1L and B3L (B1L/B3L) throughout the year. Weight per shoot was closely related to the number of expanding leaves and was greater in B3L than B1L and B2L, and also greater in summer and autumn than in spring, whereas B1L revealed the greatest young shoot density and highest N concentration. Annual shoot yield and shoot N content were largest in B3L and decreased in the following order: B3L > B2L ≈ B1L/B3L > B1L. However, in the early spring the shoot density, yield, and shoot N content of B1L were much higher than those of B3L. The harvest of B3L significantly reduced the biomass of brown roots and its ratio against the above-ground biomass compared to other harvest standards, suggesting a decreased allocation of carbon to the root system due to seasonal removal. The N dilution curve (N_ys = a × Y_ys^b, where N_ys is the shoot N content and Y_ys is the shoot yield) of spring tea differed markedly from those of summer and autumn teas, suggesting different coordination properties for shoot growth and N supply among the seasons. The annual harvest index (NHI) measured by ¹⁵N traces ranged between 0.18 and 0.23, indicating relatively low N allocation to young shoots, whereby large proportions (58.2–66.9% of the total ¹⁵N absorption) remained in the plant at the end of the experiment. In conclusion, the seasonal distribution of the shoot density, weight per shoot, yield, and N demands vary with harvest standards and highlight the importance of N precision management in tea production to be finely tuned to meet the changes in harvest season and requirements. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Tea Plant Biology and Tea Quality Regulation)

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13 pages, 3149 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Physiological, Transcriptomic Investigation on the Tea Plant Growth and Yield Motivation by Chitosan Oligosaccharides

by Lina Ou, Qiuqiu Zhang, Dezhong Ji, Yingying Li, Xia Zhou and Linhong Jin

Horticulturae 2022, 8(1), 68; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8010068 - 11 Jan 2022

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2270

Abstract

Chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) has been abundantly studied for its application on regulating plant growth of many horticultural and agricultural crops. We presented here the effect of COS on tea plant growth and yield by physiological and transcriptomic checking. The results showed that COS treatment can enhance the antioxidant activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) and increase the content of chlorophyll and soluble sugar in tea plants. The field trail results show that COS treatment can increase tea buds’ density by 13.81–23.16%, the weight of 100 buds by 15.94–18.15%, and the yield by 14.22–21.08%. Transcriptome analysis found 5409 COS-responsive differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including 3149 up-regulated and 2260 down-regulated genes, and concluded the possible metabolism pathway that responsible for COS promoting tea plant growth. Our results provided fundamental information for better understanding the molecular mechanisms for COS’s acting on tea plant growth and yield promotion and offer academic support for its practical application in tea plant. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Tea Plant Biology and Tea Quality Regulation)

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13 pages, 1639 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Thermo Condition Determines the Uptake of Autumn and Winter Applied Nitrogen and Subsequent Utilization in Spring Tea (Camellia sinensis L.)

by Lifeng Ma, Shuangfeng Jiang, Min Deng, Lize Lv, Ze Xu and Jianyun Ruan

Horticulturae 2021, 7(12), 544; https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae7120544 - 02 Dec 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2400

Abstract

The effect of thermal condition on the uptake of autumn and winter applied N and its subsequent utilization in spring tea (Camellia sinensis) was investigated by applying ¹⁵N enriched urea as single or split applications between October and February in two commercial plantations at Xingyang of Henan province and Yongchuan of Chongqing with different thermal conditions. The proportion of N derived from ¹⁵N-labeled urea (N_dff%) in fibrous root and mature leaves 15 days after application at Xingyang and the N_dff% of mature leaves on the day of the first spring tea harvest at both sites were the highest in the single October application. The N_dff% of the following spring tea was also the highest in the single October application at both sites. The results showed that application of N fertilizer in October relative to other later months most significantly improves the accumulation of plant N reserves and consequently contributes more significantly to the early spring tea. Such timing effect was related to the thermal condition, i.e., the growing degree days (°C•d, T > 8 °C) between the dates of fertilization and harvest of young shoots, which represents the combining effect of the temperature and the residence time of N fertilizer in the soil. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Tea Plant Biology and Tea Quality Regulation)

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