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International efforts to enhance the quality of tea are falling short of their potential — mainly because of the way that research is conducted in countries that dominate tea production.
As the source of the world’s most consumed beverage after water, the infusion from the leaves of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, should be a leading target for improvement. For most cereal or legume crops, including maize and soya beans, the top three research targets are yield, yield and yield. Tea, by contrast, is esteemed for its palatability and, like wine, is known for several order-of-magnitude differences in cost per quaff, based on variation in quality. Research efforts to further enhance the quality of tea are, however, falling short of their potential for intrinsic and cultural reasons — mainly the way that science is conducted in countries that lead tea production.
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Nature566, S5 (2019)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-00396-3
This article is part of Nature Outlook: Tea, an editorially independent supplement produced with the financial support of third parties. About this content.
References
Xiao, Y., Liu, H., Wu, L., Warburton, M. & Yan, J. Mol. Plant.10, 359–374 (2017).