Chemosystematics of tea trees based on tea leaf polyphenols as phenetic markers

• Published in: Phytochemistry (Oxford) Vol. 71; no. 11; pp. 1342 - 1349
• Main Authors: Li, Jia-Hua, Nesumi, Atsushi, Shimizu, Keiichi, Sakata, Yusuke, Liang, Ming-Zhi, He, Qing-Yuan, Zhou, Hong-Jie, Hashimoto, Fumio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: agricultural history; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers; Camellia sinensis; Camellia sinensis - chemistry; Camellia sinensis - genetics; catechin; center of origin; Cha (tea); chemical constituents of plants; Chemical constitution; chemical structure; Chemical taxonomy; chemotaxonomy; China; epicatechin; epigallocatechin; Flavan-3-ol; flavonoids; Flavonoids - analysis; Flavonoids - chemistry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; gallic acid; Genetic Variation; geographical distribution; geographical variation; Green tea; Japan; leaves; Molecular Structure; Phenols - analysis; Phenols - chemistry; Plant Leaves - chemistry; Plant Leaves - genetics; Plant physiology and development; Polyphenol; Polyphenols; Puer tea; Stereoisomerism; strictinin; tea; Theaceae; wild plants; Yunnan macrophyllus species; China; Japan; Camellia sinensis; Polyphenol; Yunnan macrophyllus species; Puer tea; Cha (tea); Chemical taxonomy; Flavan-3-ol; Green tea; Theaceae; Taxonomy; Chemical structure; Chemotaxonomy; Stimulant plant; Plant leaf; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Plant origin; Phenols; Tree; Spermatophyta; Species
• ISSN: 0031-9422; 1873-3700
• DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2010.05.002

PCA demonstrated that the amount of EGCG ( 1) and EGC ( 2) (alternatively, ECG ( 3) and EC ( 4)) is the most effective polyphenol pattern to study tea chemosystematics; the greater the 1 and 2 (the lower the 3 and 4) content, the more recent the origin of the line. Based on morphological characteristics (large and small leaved), the historical information on tea trees, and our findings from the statistical data, we support the notion that Puer City and the Xishuangbanna district are among the original sites of tea tree species. This study examined the polyphenols of tea leaves as chemotaxonomic markers to investigate the phenetic relationship between 89 wild (the small-leaved C. sinensis var. sinensis and large-leaved C. sinensis var. assamica), hybrid, and cultivated tea trees from China and Japan. (−)-Epigallocatechin 3- O-gallate, EGCG ( 1); (−)-epigallocatechin, EGC ( 2); (−)-epicatechin 3- O-gallate, ECG ( 3); (−)-epicatechin, EC ( 4); (+)-catechin, CA ( 5); strictinin, STR ( 6); and gallic acid, GA ( 7) were used as polyphenolic markers. Of the 13 polyphenol patterns observed, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) indicated that the structure-types of the flavonoid B-rings, such as the pyrogallol-(EGCG ( 1) and EGC ( 2)) and catechol-(ECG ( 3) and EC ( 4)) types, greatly influenced the classification. Ward’s minimum-variance cluster analysis was used to produce a dendrogram that consisted of three sub-clusters. One sub-cluster (A) was composed of old tea trees ‘Gushu’ cha ( C. sinensis var. assamica) and cv ‘Taidi’ cha, suggesting that relatively primitive tea trees contain greater amounts of compounds 3 and 4 and lower amounts of compounds 1 and 2. The other two sub-clusters B and C, made up of Chinese hybrids (sub-cluster B) and Japanese and Taiwanese tea trees (sub-cluster C), had lower contents of 3 and 4 than sub-cluster A. Therefore, PCA and cluster analysis indicated that the greater the amounts of 1 and 2 (and the lower of 3 and 4), the more recent the origin of the tea line. Based on morphological characteristics, geographical information, and the historical information on tea trees, these results show good agreement with the current theory of tea tree origins, and this suggests that the Xishuangbanna district and Puer City are among the original sites of the tea tree species.