The impact of pruning and time from pruning on quality and aroma constituents of black tea

The precursors responsible for tea quality, such as polyphenols, were found to increase in the first year and thereafter declined in content with time from pruning. While the green pigment content and ash content increased, the lipoxygenase activity showed substantial and progressive decline with time from pruning. The content of carotenoids were found to increase in the first 3 years after pruning and then showed a decline. A quantitative assessment of the various biochemical and quality parameters, such as theaflavin content (TF), total liquor colour (TLC), and water extract, showed progressive increase with time from pruning. The polyunsaturated fatty acids showed a marked decrease in their contents with decrease in the total fatty acids and various lipid fractions with time from pruning. However, C (18: 0) showed an increasing trend. While the sum of VFC Group II showed an enhancement, that of Group I showed a decline with time from pruning. As a result, the flavour index value was found to increase with time from pruning. The sensory evaluation supported the trends observed in the analytical data.