Phytochemical characterization of low-caffeine and high-theobromine wild tea Camellia yungkiangensis var. yuanbaoshanica reveal its special compositions

Taolin Chen¹, Herao Wu², Junwu Luo³, Zhiwen Ge⁴, Hao Zuo³, Xifu Wang⁵, Xuemei Yang⁶, Shimin Li⁷, Yinping Liao⁴, Jiajia Meng⁵, Zheng Zhang⁴, Meili Chen⁸, Jian Zhao⁹, Jianjun Liu¹⁰, Mingzhi Zhu¹¹

Affiliations

¹ College of Tea Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China; National Research Center of Engineering and Technology for Utilization of Botanical Functional Ingreadients; Key Laboratory of Tea Science of Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture, Hunan Agricultural University; Yuelushan Laboratory, Changsha 410128, China. Electronic address: tlchen@gzu.edu.cn.
² College of Tea Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China.
³ National Research Center of Engineering and Technology for Utilization of Botanical Functional Ingreadients; Key Laboratory of Tea Science of Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture, Hunan Agricultural University; Yuelushan Laboratory, Changsha 410128, China.
⁴ Agricultural Technology Extension Center of Liuzhou, Liuzhou 545001, China.
⁵ Forestry Research Institute of Liuzhou, Liuzhou 545300, China.
⁶ Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau of Rongshui, Liuzhou 545300, China.
⁷ Shenzhen SMQ Group Medical Laboratory, Shenzhen 518131, China.
⁸ Greening Construction Development Center of Liuzhou, Liuzhou 545001, China.
⁹ National Research Center of Engineering and Technology for Utilization of Botanical Functional Ingreadients; Key Laboratory of Tea Science of Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture, Hunan Agricultural University; Yuelushan Laboratory, Changsha 410128, China. Electronic address: zhaojian@hunau.edu.cn.
¹⁰ College of Tea Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China. Electronic address: junjian.liu@163.com.
¹¹ National Research Center of Engineering and Technology for Utilization of Botanical Functional Ingreadients; Key Laboratory of Tea Science of Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture, Hunan Agricultural University; Yuelushan Laboratory, Changsha 410128, China. Electronic address: mzzhucn@hotmail.com.

PMID: 41075671
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.146685

Phytochemical characterization of low-caffeine and high-theobromine wild tea Camellia yungkiangensis var. yuanbaoshanica reveal its special compositions

Taolin Chen et al. Food Chem. 2025.

. 2025 Oct 9;496(Pt 1):146685.

doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.146685. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ College of Tea Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China; National Research Center of Engineering and Technology for Utilization of Botanical Functional Ingreadients; Key Laboratory of Tea Science of Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture, Hunan Agricultural University; Yuelushan Laboratory, Changsha 410128, China. Electronic address: tlchen@gzu.edu.cn.
² College of Tea Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China.
³ National Research Center of Engineering and Technology for Utilization of Botanical Functional Ingreadients; Key Laboratory of Tea Science of Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture, Hunan Agricultural University; Yuelushan Laboratory, Changsha 410128, China.
⁴ Agricultural Technology Extension Center of Liuzhou, Liuzhou 545001, China.
⁵ Forestry Research Institute of Liuzhou, Liuzhou 545300, China.
⁶ Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau of Rongshui, Liuzhou 545300, China.
⁷ Shenzhen SMQ Group Medical Laboratory, Shenzhen 518131, China.
⁸ Greening Construction Development Center of Liuzhou, Liuzhou 545001, China.
⁹ National Research Center of Engineering and Technology for Utilization of Botanical Functional Ingreadients; Key Laboratory of Tea Science of Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture, Hunan Agricultural University; Yuelushan Laboratory, Changsha 410128, China. Electronic address: zhaojian@hunau.edu.cn.
¹⁰ College of Tea Science, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China. Electronic address: junjian.liu@163.com.
¹¹ National Research Center of Engineering and Technology for Utilization of Botanical Functional Ingreadients; Key Laboratory of Tea Science of Ministry of Education, College of Horticulture, Hunan Agricultural University; Yuelushan Laboratory, Changsha 410128, China. Electronic address: mzzhucn@hotmail.com.

PMID: 41075671
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.146685

Abstract

Yuanbaoshancha (Camellia yungkiangensis var. yuanbaoshanica, YBSC), a novel wild tea with low caffeine and high theobromine/polyphenol content, shows promise for breeding low-caffeine tea varieties. To elucidate its phytochemical basis, we performed metabolite profiling, isolation, and structural analysis of YBSC leaves. UPLC/ESI-Q-TOF/MS identified 190 metabolites across eight categories. Comparative metabolomics with tea cultivars (BXZ, YNDY) and wild relatives (RJC, TLC) revealed YBSC-specific differential metabolites. K-means clustering confirmed its unique metabolic profile. Eleven enriched components were structurally characterized, including theobromine (1), hydrolysable tannins (2, 6, 7), strictinin (4), catechins (3, 8, 9), and flavonols (10,11). Notably, 1,3-di-O-galloyl-4,6-O-hexahydroxydibenzoyl-β-d-glucopyranose (5) was identified as the unknown HPLC peak in YBSC. This study provides the first comprehensive metabolic profile and chemical characterization of YBSC, establishing a foundation for its biosynthetic exploration and potential application in low-caffeine tea production.

Keywords: Camellia yungkiangensis var. yuanbaoshanica; chemical composition; isolation and purification; metabolomics analysis; structural determination.

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Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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Phytochemical characterization of low-caffeine and high-theobromine wild tea Camellia yungkiangensis var. yuanbaoshanica reveal its special compositions

Affiliations

Phytochemical characterization of low-caffeine and high-theobromine wild tea Camellia yungkiangensis var. yuanbaoshanica reveal its special compositions

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources