ABSTRACT
Ensuring the genetic diversity of tea plants Jian-Qiang Ma and Liang Chen, Tea Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (TRI, CAAS), China
1 Introduction
2 Origins and distribution of tea
3 Status of tea genetic resources
4 Germplasm evaluation and characterization
5 Exploitation and utilization of genetic diversity
6 Future trends and conclusion
7 Where to look for further information
8 References
Tea plant (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) is an evergreen, perennial and woody species, whose tender buds and leaves are used to prepare the beverage known worldwide as tea (Wight and Baruwa 1957). Tea is an important source of micronutrients for the daily diet in many countries. Recent studies have shown that tea’s bioactive components can provide desirable health benefits (Hayat et al. 2015) and have a protective effect against cancer, obesity and cardiovascular diseases (Khan and Mukhtar 2013). The consumption of products containing tea constituents has been increasing in recent years. Global production of tea increased from 3.06 million metric tons in 2001 to 5.29 million metric tons in 2015 (ITC 2016).
