title: Metabolomic Analyses Reveal Distinct Change of Metabolites and Quality of Green Tea during the Short Duration of a Single Spring Season.
abstract: The sensory quality of green tea changes greatly within a single spring season, but the mechanism is not clearly elucidated. Young shoots of the early, middle, and late spring season were subjected to metabolite profiling using gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF/MS) and ultraperformance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-TOF/MS. Multivariate analyses revealed largely different metabolite phenotypes in young shoots among different periods. The contents of amino acids decreased, whereas carbohydrates, flavonoids and their glycosides, tricarboxylic acid cycle, and photorespiration pathways were strongly reinforced in the late spring season, which were well reflected in the sensory quality of made teas. Metabolomic analyses further demonstrated distinct variations of metabolite phenotypes in mature leaves. The results suggested that the fluctuation of green tea quality in the spring season was caused by changes of metabolite phenotypes in young shoots, which was likely related to the remobilization of carbon and nitrogen reserves from mature leaves.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences , Beijing 100081, China.|Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences , Hangzhou 310008, China.|Key Laboratory for Plant Biology and Resource Application of Tea, Ministry of Agriculture , Hangzhou 310008, China.
authors.forename: Jianwei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences , Hangzhou 310008, China.|Key Laboratory for Plant Biology and Resource Application of Tea, Ministry of Agriculture , Hangzhou 310008, China.
authors.forename: Qunfeng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences , Hangzhou 310008, China.|Key Laboratory for Plant Biology and Resource Application of Tea, Ministry of Agriculture , Hangzhou 310008, China.
authors.forename: Meiya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences , Hangzhou 310008, China.|Key Laboratory for Plant Biology and Resource Application of Tea, Ministry of Agriculture , Hangzhou 310008, China.
authors.forename: Lifeng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences , Hangzhou 310008, China.|Key Laboratory for Plant Biology and Resource Application of Tea, Ministry of Agriculture , Hangzhou 310008, China.
authors.forename: Yuanzhi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences , Hangzhou 310008, China.|Key Laboratory for Plant Biology and Resource Application of Tea, Ministry of Agriculture , Hangzhou 310008, China.
authors.forename: Jianyun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ruan
mesh_terms: D002853:Chromatography, Liquid; D002980:Climate; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D055432:Metabolomics; D012621:Seasons; D013662:Tea / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D013662:Tea
keywords: GC×GC-TOF/MS; UPLC-Q-TOF/MS; green tea; metabolomics; plucking period; quality; spring season