Comparative Analysis of Local Green Tea in Korea by STS-RFLP

Abstract

Consumption of green tea has increased along with increasing concern regarding healthier lifestyles, and many brands of green tea are sold with a label indicating the region of Korea in which the tea was produced. However, there is little information on identifying the difference between the green tea cultivars according to the region they were grown. Here, 9 green tea cultivars collected from Hadong region, Bosung region, China and Japan were subjected to the STS-RFLP analysis. Using the coding and noncoding DNA regions of genes related to the phenylpropanoid pathway, such as phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, chalcone synthase and dihydroflavonol 4-reductase, we have identified the differences between green tea cultivars according to the region they were grown in. In this study, we showed a STS-RFLP method of green tea analysis which easily distinguished different kinds of tea using the primers as described. In addition, we identified that the green tea cultivars from Hadong and Bosung displayed a different profile when PAL intron was digested with Dde I, suggesting that a rapid authentication system for green tea cultivars grown in different regions in Korea is available.