title: Catechin and catechin fractions as biochemical markers to study the diversity of Indian tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) germplasm.
abstract: The heterogeneous Indian tea germplasm includes 'China', 'Assam', 'Cambod', and their hybrids which were evaluated using biochemical markers viz., total catechin and their fractions, for varietal identification and characterization. Principal component analysis (PCA) of biochemical characters showed that the total catechin and trihydroxylated catechin has higher eigenvalues. The first two principal components (PCs) could differentiate more than 90% of the clones studied. This grouping based on first two principal component matrices differentiated 'China', and their hybrids with 'Assam' and 'Cambod' variety. Morphologically indistinct large-leaved 'Cambod' variety and 'Assam' varieties could not be differentiated using biochemical markers, since both varietal types taxonomically belong to a single species. Clones of 'China' type showed low total catechin content and catechin ratio which are distinctly grouped. The 'China-Assam' and 'China-Cambod' hybrids formed intermediate groups between 'China' PC group and 'Cambod'/'Assam' PC groups, providing evidence for genetic control of catechin ratio variation. Tea clones which are differentially positioned in the PC group could be explained based on the genetic contribution by other varietal type as parents. This biochemical characterization will be a useful tool in the development of quality-tea clones with different proportion of total catechin and their fractions.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Himachal Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Ashu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gulati
authors.forename: Subramani
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rajkumar
authors.forename: Subramanian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karthigeyan
authors.forename: Rakesh K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Sud
authors.forename: Deepu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vijayan
authors.forename: Jibu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Rajagopal
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rajkumar
authors.forename: Suresh C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: Pradip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tamuly
authors.forename: Mridul
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hazarika
authors.forename: Paramvir S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Ahuja
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D028241:Camellia sinensis / Q000737:chemistry*; D002392:Catechin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D007194:India; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D013662:Tea / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D013662:Tea; D002392:Catechin