Abstract:To explore the relationship between the color of fresh tea leaves and the content of biochemical components in new shoots, and explore the black tea suitability of tea varieties. Four tea varieties, namely Baiye No.1, Zijuan, Huangjinju and Fuding Dabai tea, were used as materials, the characteristics of tea buds and leaves were observed, the content of biochemical components in new shoots was determined, the correlation between different pigment content and the content of biochemical components was analyzed, and black tea was prepared for examination and verification. The highest content of chlorophyll a was Zijuan (1.21 mg/g), the highest content of anthocyanin was Zijuan (8.86 mg/g), the lowest was Baiye1 (0.03 mg/g), which were 29.53, 6.47 and 4.32 times of 29.53, 6.47, and 4.32 times of Baiye No.1, Huangjinju and Fuding Dabai tea, respectively. Correlation analysis shows that the content of pigments was negatively correlated with the content of amino acids, and positively correlated with the content of water extract, tea polyphenols and caffeine. According to the principal component analysis of pigment content and biochemical component content of new shoots, the cumulative contribution rate of the first 3 principal components representing “color factor”, “Biochemical factor factor” and “taste factor” was 96.90%, which could well analyze the quality of black tea made from new shoots of different colors (varieties). The quality scores of fresh leaves from high to low were Zijuan>Huangjinju>Fuding Dabai tea>Baiye NO.1, which was consistent with the sensory evaluation results of prepared black tea. Zijuan with high chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoid, anthocyanins, high phenol-ammonia ratio was more suitable for making black tea, which also indicates that suitable black tea varieties can be judged by the pigment content and biochemical component content of fresh leaves, which can provide references for the production practice of black tea in Jiangxi Province.
