The Relationship between the Color and Chemical Composition of Fresh Tea Leaves and Their Suitability for Making Black Tea
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Abstract:
Four tea varieties, namely Baiye No.1, Zijuan, Huangjinju and Fuding Dabai, were used as the research materials, the characteristics of tea buds and leaves were examined, the contents of biochemical components in the fresh leaves were determined, the correlation between the contents of different pigments and the contents of biochemical components was analyzed, and black tea was prepared for evaluation and verification. The results showed that Zijuan had the highest contents of chlorophyll a (1.21 mg/g) and anthocyanins (8.86 mg/g), which were 29.53, 6.47 and 4.32 times those of Baiye No.1, Huangjinju and Fuding Dabai, respectively. Correlation analysis revelaed that the content of pigments was negatively correlated with the content of amino acids, and positively correlated with the contents of water extract, tea polyphenols and caffeine. The principal component analyses of the contents of pigments and biochemical components of the new tea leaves revealed that the cumulative contribution rate of the first 3 principal components representing “Pigment Factor”, “Biochemical Factor” and “Taste Factor” was 96.90%, which could well distinguish the quality of black tea made with the fresh leaves of different colors (varieties). The quality scores of fresh leaves from high to low were Zijuan (T2) > Huangjinju (T3) > Fuding Dabai (T4) > Baiye No1 (T1), which was consistent with the black tea sensory evaluation results. Zijuan with high contents of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotenoid and anthocyanins, as well as high phenol-ammonia ratio, was more suitable for making black tea, indicating that the suitability of a tea variety for making black tea can be judged by the pigment content and biochemical component content of its fresh leaves. Taken together, this study can provide data support for the suitability of tea tree shoots with different colors.
