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. 2020 Jun 16;10(1):9715.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-66808-x.

Baiyacha, a wild tea plant naturally occurring high contents of theacrine and 3″-methyl-epigallocatechin gallate from Fujian, China

Ji-Qiang Jin  1 , Chen-Kai Jiang  1 , Ming-Zhe Yao  2 , Liang Chen  3
Affiliations

Baiyacha, a wild tea plant naturally occurring high contents of theacrine and 3″-methyl-epigallocatechin gallate from Fujian, China

Ji-Qiang Jin et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Baiyacha (BYC) is a kind of wild tea plant growing and utilizing in the remote mountain area of Fujian province, Southeastern China. However, scientific studies on this plant remain limited. Our results showed that BYC exhibits the typical morphological characteristics of Camellia gymnogyna Chang, a closely related species of C. sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze, which was not found in Fujian before. Chemical profiling revealed that parts of BYC plants are rich in purine alkaloids and catechins, especially featuring high levels of theacrine and 3″-methyl-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG3″Me), chemical compounds with multiple biological activities that are rarely observed in regular tea plants. The contents of EGCG3″Me and theacrine in BYC both increased with the leaf maturity of tea shoots, whereas the caffeine content decreased significantly. The obtained results provide abundant information about the morphology and chemical compounds of BYC and may be used for tea production, breeding, and scientific research in the future.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Morphological characteristic of Baiyacha: (A) a typical plant, (B) young shoots, (C) leaves, (D) flowers, and (E) fruits and seeds.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Morphological differences between Baiyacha (left) and cultivated tea plant (right): (A) pubescence density of bud; (B) pubescence density of ovary.
Figure 3
Figure 3
HPLC chromatograms of standard and three accessions of tea germplasms. (A) standard, (B) Ruyuan Qunti, (C) Benifuuki, (D) Baiyacha. Peak identification: TB, theobromine; GC, (+)-gallocatechin; EGC, (−)-epigallocatechin; TCR, theacrine; C, (+)-catechin; CAF, caffeine; EC, (−)-epicatechin; EGCG, (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate; GCG, (−)-gallocatechin-3-gallate; EGCG3″Me, 3″-methyl-epigallocatechin gallate; ECG, (−)-epicatechin-3-gallate.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Total ion current (TIC) chromatograms and fragment ions of two compounds. (A) TIC of a typical Baiyacha plant in the ESI − and ESI + mode, (B) fragment ions of theacrine in the ESI + mode, (C) fragment ions of EGCG3″Me in the ESI − mode.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Purine alkaloid contents in different parts of ‘six and a bud’ tea shoots. (A) theobromine (TB), (B) caffeine (CAF), (C) theacrine (TCR), (D) total purine alkaloids (TPA). RYQT, ‘Ruyuan Qunti’; BFK, ‘Benifuuki’; BYC, ‘Baiyacha’. A. bud and first leaf; B. second leaf; C. third leaf; D. fourth leaf; E. fifth leaf; F. sixth leaf. The data are presented as the mean ± standard error of three independent analyses. Different letters above columns denote the existence of significant difference (p < 0.05).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Catechin contents in different leaf position of ‘six and a bud’ tea shoots. (A) (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), (B) (−)-epicatechin-3-gallate (ECG), (C) 3″-methyl-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG3″Me), (D) total catechins (TC). RYQT, ‘Ruyuan Qunti’; BFK, ‘Benifuuki’; BYC, ‘Baiyacha’. A. bud and first leaf; B. second leaf; C. third leaf; D. fourth leaf; E. fifth leaf; F. sixth leaf. The data are presented as the mean ± standard error of three independent analyses. Different letters above columns denote the existence of significant difference (p < 0.05).
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