One speculation on the origin and dispersion of tea plant in China - one speculation based on the chemotaxonomy by using the content-ratio of terpene-alcohols found in tea aroma composition
Takeo, T.; Yu, X.Q.; Wang, H.F.; Kinukasa, H.; Li, M.J.; Chen, Q.K.; Wang, H.S.
Journal of Tea Science 12(2): 81-86
1992
Document Number: 318098
By using the terpene index (TI), a ratio between linalool and geraniol in tea volatiles obtained following infusion of dried leaf, the genetic relationships among cultivars growing in China were determined. Cultivars from Yunnan province, the presumed centre of origin of Camellia sinensis, had TI values of around 1.0 and showed characteristics similar to those of Indian var. assamica cultivars. Some cultivars from Zhejiang and Fujian provinces had TI values of less than 0.1 and up to 0.2, indicating that they may be the most remote from the original Yunnan cultivars. The ranges in TI values displayed by the cultivars allowed the dispersion route of tea in China to be tentatively drawn.