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Using the survey data of 45 tea enterprises in Fujian Province, China, this paper adopted fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to study the adoption of the sustainable production technologies by tea enterprises. The results show that there are two configurations for the path to achieve the adoption of high sustainable production technologies. The core condition combination of the first configuration is the existence of sustainable development capabilities, the degree of government support, and the resource and environmental endowment, while that of the second configuration is the existence of enterprise expected value, industrial organization mode and the resource and environmental endowment. Moreover, the path achieving non-highly sustainable production technologies adoption mainly summarized as a configuration. Specifically, the core condition is the absence of sustainable development capabilities, enterprise development strategies, and the resource and environmental endowments. Furthermore, some practical policy recommendations were put forward based on the above conclusions in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Rock & Mineral Analysis is the property of Editorial Board of Rock & Mineral Analysis and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Traditional tea quality evaluation methods are based on chemical testing, such as gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GCMS) and high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). However, the process of extracting chemical components is generally time‐consuming and expensive, which makes it unsuitable for wide range of applications. Therefore, this paper presents a new approach to evaluate tea quality based on Near‐infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) devices. In our method, factor analysis compression algorithm is first applied to initially compress the input NIRS vectors, which are acquired from tea samples with high dimensional data. Then, random forest algorithm is employed to construct a voting strategy. More precisely speaking, we proposed a low‐cost and convenient tea quality estimation scheme that can be widely used in tea industry. The proposed approach has been verified using tea NIRS datasets which were acquired from Fujian Province. Experiments show that the proposed NIRS‐based approach significantly outperforms the GCMS‐based and HPLC‐based methods. Specially, we achieved a highly competitive performance (AP = 0.989) on the comprehensive data set that contains 869 annotated Chinese tea samples, which means that tea quality can be estimated in a convenient and cheaper way. Practical Applications: The proposed tea classification approach based on artificial intelligence which lend new perspectives to tea merchants and consumers insight and decision‐making. The approach can perform preference adjustments in various conditions such as regions, crowd habits, seasons, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background——As a characteristic agricultural industry, tea industry is the leading industry for farmers to get rid of poverty and increase income in tea-producing areas. Fujian, as a major tea-producing province, not only has a better industrial foundation, but also has distinctive characteristics of tea industry development, which is representative and typical. Methods——Employing coupling coordination degree model and obstacle degree model, the coupling coordination degree of tea industry and regional economy in Fujian was analyzed and the obstacle factors were diagnosed. The data are derived from the Statistical Yearbook of Fujian from 2011 to 2021,the Statistical Yearbook of China’s Tea Industry from 2011 to 2017,and the Statistical Bulletin on National Economic and Social Development of Fujian from 2011 to 2020. Results——Through the analysis, the following conclusions can be drawn: (1) The tea industry in Fujian moves towards a high level of coupling with the regional economy. From 2011 to 2020,the coupling degree values were maintained between 0.7 and 1.0,and the push-pull interaction between the tea industry and economic development showed an increasingly strong trend, which led to the increase of the coupling degree value, and began to grow to and maintain the highest level in 2015.This shows that the tea industry and regional economy have entered a high level of coupling from the grinding stage. (2) The relation of Fujian tea industry and regional economy gradually moves to benign interaction and efficient coordination. In addition, the coupling coordinated development is the leading type in tea industry system from 2011 to 2015.In 2017, the synchronous development of subsystems was transformed into the dominant type of regional economic system, and the two subsystems were alternately dominated from 2018 to 2020.On the whole, the coupling development type of the two has gone through three stages, namely, from the imbalance recession stage, transition stage to the coordinated development stage. And the system changes from mild disorder to high-quality coordination. (3) Tea export volume, yield, output value, tea garden area and contribution rate of primary industry are the main obstacle factors. From 2011 to 2015,the export volume of tea has always been the first obstacle factor, followed by tea yield and tea garden area. From 2018 to 2020,the ranking of the top five obstacle factors has changed, the impact of tea exports has gradually decreased, and the proportion of tea output value in GDP has gradually increased, ranking first in 2020. Conclusions and Discussions—According to the research results, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) There is a strong interaction between the tea industry and the regional economy in Fujian Province, and it has developed from a low level of mutual restraint to a high level of mutual promotion.. (2) The obstacle degree of the subsystem of TE system in Fujian Province has not changed much. Starting from the main obstacle factors, this paper puts forward countermeasures and suggestions to promote the coordinated development of tea industry and regional economy: (1) It is necessary to improve tea quality, promote tea exports. (2) It is required to deepen the processing level and improving the output value of tea. (3)It is expected to enrich the form of industrial integration and improve comprehensive benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tea is consumed widely around the world owing to its refreshing taste and potential health benefits. However, drinking tea is considered a major route for dietary aluminum exposure in areas where tea consumption is relatively large. To assess the health risk associated with drinking tea, the contamination level of aluminum was determined in 81 tea samples. The transfer rate of aluminum during tea brewing was investigated. Then based on the site-specific exposure parameters such as consumption data and body weight for six different subpopulations in Fujian, the exposure risks were estimated using a probabilistic approach. Results demonstrate that the contents of aluminum in green tea, white tea, oolong tea, and black tea were significantly different according to the one-way ANOVA analysis (p < 0.05). The transfer rate of aluminum were 32.6%, 31.6%, 26.3%, and 14% for white tea, black tea, oolong tea, and green tea, respectively. With respect to the oral reference dose, the exposure of inhabitants in Fujian to aluminum through drinking tea is under control (even at the 99th percentile). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nutrient resorption is an important strategy for plants to retain critical nutrients from senesced leaves and plays important roles in nutrient cycling and ecosystem productivity. As a main economic crop and soil and water conservation species, Wuyi Rock tea has been widely planted in Fujian Province, China. However, foliar nutrient resorptions of Wuyi Rock tea cultivars have not been well quantified. In this study, three Wuyi Rock tea cultivars (Wuyi Jingui, Wuyi Rougui, and Wuyi Shuixian) were selected in the Wuyishan National Soil and Water Conservation, Science and Technology Demonstration Park. Resorption efficiencies of nitrogen (NRE), phosphorus (PRE), and potassium (KRE) along with their stoichiometric characteristics were determined. PRE of the three tea cultivars was significantly higher than KRE and NRE, indicating that tea cultivars were P limited due to low P availability for the tea growth. With the exception of Wuyi Rougui, leaf N and P contents of the other two cultivars (Wuyi Jingui and Wuyi Shuixian) had strong homeostasis under the changing soil environments. Leaf thickness and specific leaf area were positively and significantly correlated with KRE, and total chlorophyll concentration was positively correlated with NRE, indicating that leaf functional traits can be used as indicators for nutrient resorption status. Wuyi Rock tea cultivars had strong adaptabilities to the environments and had high carbon sequestration capabilities; thus, they and could be introduced into nutrient-poor mountainous areas for both economic benefits and soil and water conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A reliable analytical method for the simultaneous determination of emamectin benzoate and tolfenpyrad in fresh and dried tea (Camellia sinensis) leaves was developed. We determined the dissipation of the two pesticides in fresh tea leaves from Jiangsu, Hunan, Guangxi, and Fujian provinces (China) using different dissipation kinetic curves. We found that the optimal model for both compounds was the combined first + first-order kinetic in most cases. The half-lives of emamectin benzoate, calculated by the best-fit model, were 0.11–0.49 d, while that of tolfenpyrad were 1.12–1.85 d. This indicated that the two pesticides quickly dissipated in the fresh tea leaves. In order to eliminate the influence of water loss, we calculated the pesticide residues in fresh tea leaves based on dry weight and then calculated the processing factors in dry weight. The processing factors (dry weight) of emamectin benzoate and tolfenpyrad were found to be 0.23–0.98 and 0.18–0.67, respectively with loss rates of 1.6%–76.7% and 32.7%–82.1% determined for emamectin benzoate and tolfenpyrad residues during tea processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tea plants are widely grown all over the world because they are an important economic crop. The purity and authenticity of tea varieties are frequent problems in the conservation and promotion of germplasm resources in recent years, which has brought considerable inconvenience and uncertainty to the selection of parental lines for breeding and the research and cultivation of superior varieties. However, the development of core SNP markers can quickly and accurately identify the germplasm, which plays an important role in germplasm identification and the genetic relationship analysis of tea plants. In this study, based on 179,970 SNP loci from the whole genome of the tea plant, all of 142 cultivars were clearly divided into three groups: Assam type (CSA), Chinese type (CSS), and transitional type. Most CSA cultivars are from Yunnan Province, which confirms that Yunnan Province is the primary center of CSA origin and domestication. Most CSS cultivars are distributed in east China; therefore, we deduced that east China (mainly Zhejiang and Fujian provinces) is most likely the area of origin and domestication of CSS. Moreover, 45 core markers were screened using strict criteria to 179,970 SNP loci, and we analyzed 117 well-Known tea cultivars in China with 45 core SNP markers. The results were as follows: (1) In total, 117 tea cultivars were distinguished by eight markers, which were selected to construct the DNA fingerprint, and the remaining markers were used as standby markers for germplasm identification. (2) Ten pairs of parent and offspring relationships were confirmed or identified, and among them, seven pairs were well-established pedigree relationships; the other three pairs were newly identified. In this study, the east of China (mainly Zhejiang and Fujian provinces) is most likely the area of origin and domestication of CSS. The 45 core SNP markers were developed, which provide a scientific basis at the molecular level to identify the superior tea germplasm, undertake genetic relationship analysis, and benefit subsequent breeding work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In recent years, metabolic products of pesticides have gained much attention due to their substantial characteristics as organic pollutants. So far, the behavior and metabolite levels of pesticide metabolites in crops have not been characterized well. In the present study, four registered pesticides (imidacloprid, diafenthiuron, malathion and chlorothalonil) were applied on tea plants in Fujian and Sichuan to characterize their metabolites residue pattern and dietary risk. Results: Four pesticides dissipated first‐order kinetics in the fresh tea leaves with the half‐lives of 1.4–3.8 days. Nine metabolites were detected in the fresh tea leaves and green tea after processing. The metabolites residues showed an increasing trend first and then declined after treatment, and reached the maximum near the half‐lives of pesticide. Compared with the parent pesticide, the total residue and acute risk (included the metabolites) increased by 1.7–105.2 times. Some metabolites, especially those whose parent pesticides have high water solubility and low Log Kow, will be more easily transferred to tea infusion. Conclusion: Pesticides were metabolized rapidly on tea plants after application, but the production of metabolites increased the health risk of tea consumption. These results could provide insights to use the pesticides in tea gardens and risk monitoring after application. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metal is widespread in food and the environment due to multiple origins, raising concerns over their persistent potential health risks. Contamination of multiple heavy metals in tea leaves is frequently reported. However, the dietary exposure risk that heavy metals in Tieguanyin tea (a famous type of oolong tea,) pose to different subpopulations has not been explored. In this study, contaminations of five heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Cr, Cd, and Ni) of concern in Tieguanyin tea were monitored, then the related health risk was assessed for six different subpopulations based on tea brewing experiments and a previous consumption survey. Results show that the mean levels found were as follows: 8.18 mg/kg (Cu), 0.84 mg/kg (Pb), 0.51 mg/kg (Cr), 0.04 mg/kg (Cd), and 1.90 mg/kg (Ni), respectively, and their transfer rates during tea brewing varied within 10.2–70.4%. All estimated daily intakes of individual targeted elements via Tieguanying tea consumption were far below their corresponding tolerable limits. The adjusted hazard index value ranged from 1.1 × 10−2 to 1.7 × 10−2, indicating that exposure to these five elements via drinking Tieguanyin tea would not pose significant non-cancer risks for six subpopulations under the current consumption habit. In addition, the carcinogenic risks associated with heavy metals (Pb, Cd, and Cr) were acceptable because no total cancer risk values exceeded the 10−4 threshold. However, in order to improve consumer protection, we still suggest that considerable attention should be paid to Pb, Ni, and Cd because of their high concentration in infusion, high extraction rate, and major carcinogenic risk contribution, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the residues of 42 pesticides subject to public concern in Tieguanyin tea produced in Fujian, China. The presence of 42 pesticide residues in 90 Tieguanyin tea samples were determined. A total of 17 pesticides were detected. At least one pesticide residue was detected in 65 samples (72.2%). The detected pesticides imidacloprid, tolfenpyrad, bifenthrin, acetamiprid were found in 55.6%, 33.3%, 18.9% and 16.7% of samples, respectively. Pesticide residues in Tieguanyin tea varied significantly over the seasons and across the production regions. Based on data obtained, the health risks associated with long-term exposure to those pesticides were assessed and risks of detected pesticides were ranked. The hazard quotients (HQs) among the detected pesticides range from 5 × 10−8 for fenpropathrin to 3 × 10−4 for imidacloprid. The results demonstrated that despite a high occurrence of pesticide residues in Tieguanyin tea, residue levels observed could not be considered as a serious public health problem. The risk ranking scheme showed dicofol and thiacloprid were considered to pose a medium-risk. The suggestions for 17 detected pesticides used in Tieguanyin tea plantation were made, including those already banned from use in China (dicofol and methomyl), recommended for diminished use (thiacloprid and chlorpyrifos), and permitted use with considering the pre-harvest interval (13 other pesticides). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tea is one of the most important cash crops and widely consumed beverages worldwide and plays a significant role in rural development, poverty reduction, and food security in many developing countries. Nevertheless, very few empirical studies have analysed the comparative advantage of the tea industry in developing countries. Taking Fujian Province, China, as the object of a case study, we carried out a spatiotemporal analysis of the determinants of the tea industry's revealed comparative advantage (RCA) during the period 2010-2018. The empirical analysis relied on a calculation of RCA and an estimation of a geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR) using data from 67 counties in Fujian. The results confirmed that the effect and significance of RCA determinants vary considerably across different spatial areas and over time. With the exception of 'disposable income', all other determinants had a positive and statistically significant effect on a region's RCA in the tea industry. Specifically, the results indicated that regional specialisation had the strongest positive effect on tea competitiveness. Local governments' sectoral strategies and institutional policies were essential elements in building and maintaining regional tea competitiveness. Infrastructure development, which traditionally went hand-in-hand with urbanisation processes, had a significant impact on tea competitiveness. These findings imply that competitiveness of the tea sector can be improved by adopting local polices that support producers and processors through fiscal investment, technology provision, and capacity building as well as measures to improve rural road infrastructure and link small farmers to other actors along tea supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Habitat conversion in mountain areas threatens their biodiversity. The effect on biodiversity of creating a mountain landscape with a network of forest fragments and a cultivated habitat matrix is poorly documented in China. Bird communities in forest fragments and tea plantations were censused by field observations in two years (2018–2019) in three tea-growing locations, Anxi, Beifeng, and Wuyishan in Fujian Province, south-eastern China. Out of a potential pool of 247 forest-associated bird species, we detected the presence of 82, mostly resident species, 32–47 of those regularly visiting tea plantations. Species-accumulation curves indicated the near-completeness of the census. The Rényi diversity profiles indicated a more diverse community in forest fragments than nearby tea plantations at Anxi and Beifeng, but the tea plantations at Wuyishan supported a more diverse bird community than the forest. Avian communities in tea plantations were a significantly nested subset of the forest communities. Tea plantations can provide resources for forest-associated birds, but the effectiveness of preserving avian diversity depends on natural forest fragments and can be enhanced by landscape-scale management, when the biocontrol potential of birds can also be enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study applied an untargeted–targeted (UT) fingerprinting approach, based on comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOF MS), to assess the effects of rainfall and temperature (both seasonal and elevational) on the tea metabolome. By this strategy, the same compound found in multiple samples need only to be identified once, since chromatograms and mass spectral features are aligned in the data analysis process. Primary and specialized metabolites of leaves from two Chinese provinces, Yunnan (pu′erh) and Fujian (oolong), and a farm in South Carolina (USA, black tea) were studied. UT fingerprinting provided insight into plant metabolism activation/inhibition, taste and trigeminal sensations, and antioxidant properties, not easily attained by other analytical approaches. For example, pu′erh and oolong contained higher relative amounts of amino acids, organic acids, and sugars. Conversely, black tea contained less of all targeted compounds except fructose and glucose, which were more similar to oolong tea. Findings revealed compounds statistically different between spring (pre-monsoon) and summer (monsoon) in pu′erh and oolong teas as well as compounds that exhibited the greatest variability due to seasonal and elevational differences. The UT fingerprinting approach offered unique insights into how differences in growing conditions and commercial processing affect the nutritional benefits and sensory characteristics of tea beverages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is an important food product with thousands of years of human use. Being a non-washable food, no pesticide residues are allowed, which increases the importance of natural means of plant protection. Predation, a component of natural pest control, is an important contributor to this, but its level and sustainability are not known in most of the areas of tea production. We quantified predation intensity using the artificial sentinel prey method in a tea-growing landscape containing remnants of the original forest vegetation in Fujian Province, China. The most common predators were chewing arthropods (49.8% of predation events) and birds (48.1%). Overall, predation rates at the edges of forest fragments (18.9% d-1) were lower than either in fragment interiors (25.4%d−1) or in the surrounding tea plantations (19.2–24.1%d-1). Arthropod predation was higher inside, and at the edge of, forest fragments than within plantations, and generally decreased with increasing distance from a fragment edge, indicating limited spillover of arthropod predators from the native habitat remnants to the cultivated matrix at the local scale. Bird predation, though, showed a different trend: it was lower on the inside of forest fragments than in the tea planation, and bird attack rates increased at increasing distances (up to 40 m) from the forest fragment edge. We also found a reciprocal relationship between attack rates by birds and arthropods, suggesting intra-guild predation. Measures protecting arthropod natural enemies could increase the combined pest suppression effect, contributing to pesticide-free tea production in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]