This is the key to better tasting tea

By Sharin Hussain via SWNS

Root microbes are key to a better tasting cup of tea, according to a new study.

A key ingredient to making the perfect cup of tea includes a collection of microbes found in tea roots, according to researchers from the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University.

The study, published in the journal Current Biology, found that the microbes in tea roots affected their uptake of ammonia.

This influences the production of theanine, which is key for determining a tea’s taste.

Professor Tongda Xu of Plant Cell and Development Biology, at the University said: “Significant disparities in microbial communities, particularly nitrogen metabolism-related microorganisms, were identified in the roots of tea plants with varying qualities through microbiomics.”

“Through the isolation and assembly of a synthetic microbial community from high-quality tea plant roots we managed to notably enhance the amino acid content in various tea plant varieties, resulting in an improvement in tea quality.”

The researchers found that improving the quality of tea through molecular genetic breeding methods is challenging even though China has a wealth of genetic resources for growing tea plants.

Alternative ways to modify and enhance tea could be to use microbial agents.

In a previous study, they examined soil microbes living in plant roots and how they affect the way nutrients are taken up and used within plants.

They also saw variations in the microbes colonizing different teas.

By comparing tea varieties with different amounts of theanine, they identified a set of microbes that looked promising for altering nitrogen metabolism and boosting theanine levels.

A synthetic microbial community, dubbed SynCom, was created to closely mirror the one with a high-theanine tea variety called Rougui.

After applying SynCom to tea roots, they found it boosted theanine levels.

The microbes also allowed Arabidopsis thaliana, known as Thale Cress, a plant commonly used in basic biological studies, to better tolerate low nitrogen conditions.

Their hope for the study was to enhance the quality of low quality tea plants by using the synthetic microbial community made from high quality tea plant roots.

The study co-author, Dr. Wenxin Tang, said: “To our astonishment, we discovered that the synthetic microbial community not only enhances the quality of low-quality tea plants but also exerts a significant promoting effect on certain high-quality tea varieties.

"Furthermore, this effect is particularly pronounced in low-nitrogen soil conditions.”

The findings suggest that synthetically produced microbial communities could improve teas, especially when grown in nitrogen-deficient soil conditions.

Tea trees require lots of nitrogen. With this discovery it could help to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers while improving the quality of tea trees.

The findings may have important implications for agricultural crops more broadly.

Prof. Xu said: “SynCom21 microbial community has not only improved the absorption of ammonium nitrogen in different tea varieties but also enhanced the uptake of ammonium nitrogen in Arabidopsis thaliana.

“This suggests that the ammonium nitrogen uptake-promoting function of SynCom21 may be applicable to various plants, including other crops.”

This method could lead to improving the quality in growing rice with a greater protein content.

They now plan to study SynCom and assess its use in field trials and hope to learn more about how root microbes affect other secondary metabolites in tea trees.