Recent techniques for the authentication of the geographical origin of tea leaves from camellia sinensis: A review

Mengying Shuai; Chuanyi Peng; Huiliang Niu; Dongliang Shao; Ruyan Hou; Huimei Cai

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.131713

Recent techniques for the authentication of the geographical origin of tea leaves from camellia sinensis: A review

Food Chem. 2022 Apr 16:374:131713. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.131713. Epub 2021 Dec 14.

Authors

Mengying Shuai¹, Chuanyi Peng¹, Huiliang Niu², Dongliang Shao³, Ruyan Hou¹, Huimei Cai⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, School of Tea and Food Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, PR China; Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, School of Tea and Food Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, PR China.
² State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, School of Tea and Food Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, PR China.
³ Anhui Guoke Testing Technology Co Ltd, Hefei 230036, PR China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Tea Plant Biology and Utilization, School of Tea and Food Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, PR China; Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, School of Tea and Food Science and Technology, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, PR China. Electronic address: chm@ahau.edu.cn.

PMID: 34920400
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.131713

Abstract

Tea is one of the most important beverages worldwide, is produced in several distinct geographical regions, and is traded on the global market. The ability to determine the geographical origin of tea products helps to ensure authenticity and traceability. This paper reviews the recent research on authentication of tea using a combination of instrumental and chemometric methods. To determine the production region of a tea sample, instrumental methods based on analyzing isotope and mineral element contents are suitable because they are less affected by tea variety and processing methods. Chemometric analysis has proven to be a valuable method to identify tea. Principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) are the most preferred methods for processing large amounts of data obtained through instrumental component analysis.

Keywords: Chemometric analysis; Geographical authentication; Influencing factors; Metabolites; Mineral elements; Stable isotopes; Tea.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Camellia sinensis*
Chemometrics
Discriminant Analysis
Plant Leaves
Principal Component Analysis
Tea

Substances

Tea