Rapid selection of polyphenol-rich tea trees (Camellia sinensis L.) employing a colorimetric method

An efficient and rapid colorimetric method was established for the selection of tea tree lines rich in polyphenol from 160 tea tree lines. The efficient selection method was made possible by the adoption of the Folin-Ciocalteu (FC) colorimetric method for qualitative detection of the polyphenols. The polyphenol composition varied widely among the randomly sampled 160 tea tree lines. The tea tree lines were classified into three groups on the basis of color intensity obtained after treatment of tea extracts with FC reagent. The polyphenol content of the three groups was quantified and validated by UV spectrophotometric analysis. Among various tea lines, H-23 tea line exhibited the highest amounts of polyphenol that was 2.89-fold higher than those found in low polyphenol producing tea tree (H-9). Hence FC colorimetric method can become a reliable selection method for easy and rapid selection of tea population rich in polyphenol in a tea tree breeding programme.