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Discrimination of Tanzanian Black Tea by Geographical Origin and Seasonal Variations of Chemical constituents using HPTLC and NIR Spectroscopy

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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We present the results of a study that differentiated black tea by geographical origin using high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Quantitative measurements of important components (caffeine, chlorogenic acid, and L-theanine) are also reported. Classification and identification of black tea were performed using a combination of PCA and NIRS used for tea clustering.

The findings have shown that the differences in tea quality between the southern highlands (Katumba, Kibena, and Lugoda estates) and north-eastern zones (Herkulu, Kwamkoro, and Dindira estates) were related to caffeine, L-theanine, and Chlorogenic acid contents. HPTLC findings revealed higher content of caffeine (13.17 ± 0.47–21.30 ± 0.58 mg/g), chlorogenic acid (13.20 ± 0.46–19.7 ± 0.47 mg/g), and L-theanine (14.50 ± 0.47–19.20 ± 0.46 mg/g) in Southern highlands of Tanzania (Katumba, Kibena, and Lugoda estates) than caffeine (9.65 ± 0.15–13.57 ± 0.21 mg/g), Chlorogenic acid (0.25 ± 0.11–9.84 ± 0.14 mg/g), and L-theanine (5.88 ± 0.22–15.88 ± 0.51 mg/g) of the tea samples collected from the north-east of Tanzania (Herkulu, Kwamkoro, and Dindira estates). NIRS combined with principal component analysis (PCA) grouped tea samples into two-sided clusters those from southern highlands and those from the north-eastern zone with a total of 99% variations among origins. This method successfully discriminates black tea according to its geographical origin.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Pharmaceutical Research and Development Laboratory at the School of Pharmacy (MUHAS) for supporting the laboratory experiments in which all experiments and analyzes were performed. Staffs Mr. P.T., Ms. R.N., Mr. E.L., Mr. T.M. Mr. MM. We would also like to thank the tea estates, Herkulu, Dindira, Lugoda, Kibena, Kwamkoro, and Katumba for their support of tea samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pharm R&D Laboratory, School of Pharmacy, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, P.O. Box 65013, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

    Raphael Shedafa & Eliangiringa Kaale

  2. Bayer Bitterfeld GmbH, Salegaster Chaussee 1, 06803, Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany

    Christian Opel

  3. Medicinal Chemistry Department, School of Pharmacy, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, P.O. Box 65013, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

    Raphael Shedafa, Joseph Sempombe & Eliangiringa Kaale

  4. Pharmaceutics Department, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, P.O. Box 65013, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

    Mary Justin Temu

  5. Martín-Luther-universität Halle-Wittenberg Kurt-Mothes-Str. 3, 06120, Halle (Saale), Germany

    Peter Imming

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Correspondence to Raphael Shedafa.

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Shedafa, R., Opel, C., Sempombe, J. et al. Discrimination of Tanzanian Black Tea by Geographical Origin and Seasonal Variations of Chemical constituents using HPTLC and NIR Spectroscopy. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., India, Sect. B Biol. Sci. 93, 925–933 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40011-023-01497-w

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