Emerging techniques for determining the quality and safety of tea products: A review

Abstract

Spectroscopic techniques, electrochemical methods, nanozymes, computer vision, and modified chromatographic techniques are the emerging techniques for determining the quality and safety parameters (e.g., physical, chemical, microbiological, and classified parameters, as well as inorganic and organic contaminants) of tea products (such as fresh tea leaves, commercial tea, tea beverage, tea powder, and tea bakery products) effectively. By simplifying the sample preparation, speeding up the detection process, reducing the interference of other substances contained in the sample, and improving the sensitivity and accuracy of the current standard techniques, the abovementioned emerging techniques achieve rapid, cost‐effective, and nondestructive or slightly destructive determination of tea products, with some of them providing real‐time detection results. Applying these emerging techniques in the whole industry of tea product processing, right from the picking of fresh tea leaves, fermentation of tea leaves, to the sensory evaluation of commercial tea, as well as developing portable devices for real‐time and on‐site determination of classified and safety parameters (e.g., the geographical origin, grade, and content of contaminants) will not only eliminate the strong dependence on professionals but also help mechanize the production of tea products, which deserves further research. Conducting a review on the application of spectroscopic techniques, electrochemical methods, nanozymes, computer vision, and modifications of chromatographic techniques for quality and safety determination of tea products may serve as guide for other types of foods and beverages, offering potential techniques for their detection and evaluation, which would promote the development of the food industry.

Mycotoxins in Tea ((Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze)): Contamination and Dietary Exposure Profiling in the Chinese Population

“…However, the interaction mechanisms and relevant coefficients among the six groups of mycotoxins were unknown and unavailable. In our study, the HI was calculated by adding the HQ or MOS for each group of mycotoxins from the deterministic and probabilistic estimation: HI= HQ OTA + HQ ZEN + HQ DON + HQ T-2 + HQ NEO + HQ CIT (4) HI= MOS OTA + MOS ZEN + MOS DON + MOS T-2 + MOS NEO + MOS CIT (5) Conventionally, an HI less than 1.0 indicates that the total exposure does not exceed the level considered "acceptable", and people are unlikely to be exposed at a toxic level with possible consequences for health. In contrast, if it exceeds one, there is a possibility of suffering adverse effects.…”

“…The application and consumption of commercial dried tea in many fields is also gradually expanding due to the continuous innovation of tea comprehensive processing technology, forming diversified tea products [ 4 ]. Botanical dietary supplements based on traditional raw tea materials have entered our market in different forms [ 5 , 6 ]. The global average consumption of dried tea is approximately 2.5 million metric tons per year [ 7 ].…”

“…In recent years, there has been progress in the quantitative detection of mycotoxins in tea [ 5 , 6 , 12 , 22 ]. Many scholars have also focused on risk assessments of AFs and OTA in dark tea [ 23 , 24 ], AFs in black tea [ 25 ], and AFs and ZEN in green tea, black tea, and even herbal teas [ 26 ].…”

Orthogonal optimization for effective classification of different tea leaves by a novel pressure stabilized inclined chamber classifier

“…Manual picking is picking according to the tenderness of tea leaves, but it is less efficient, while mechanical picking is faster and can save a lot of picking time (Du et al, 2020). Therefore, mechanical picking becomes an inevitable trend (Yu et al, 2020). Tea pickers can not only improve work efficiency and increase benefits, but also save a large number of laborers, relieve the picking peak period (Yang et al, 2021), shorten the picking cycle, and can be a key measure to ensure the quality of fresh leaves, which is conducive to the scale and mechanization of tea production (Gao et al, 2020).…”

Competitive Ranking of Six Major Tea-Related Research Organizations Through Bibliometric Analysis of Publications and Patents

“…Tea serves as the national drink of China and represents a long-standing component of Chinese history and culture. With technological advances in production, the tea industry is increasingly shifting from traditional to modern industrial methods [1] . Continual technical advances in the tea industry are essential for ensuring the competitiveness of the Chinese tea industry in the international market.…”