Metabolic Profiling of Cultivated Bush Tea (Athrixia phylicoides DC.) in Response to Different Pruning Types

Abstract

<jats:p>Bush tea (<jats:italic>Athrixia phylicoides</jats:italic> DC.) is a popular medicinal South African indigenous plant and it has been used for many decades as a health beverage and medicine. The objective of the study was to profile metabolites for assessment of quality of bush tea (<jats:italic>A. phylicoides</jats:italic> DC.) subjected to different pruning levels. Treatments consisted of untreated control, top-branch pruning, middle pruning, and basal pruning arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) using 10 single trees as replications. The liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC–QTOF–MS) was carried out to annotate the bush tea metabolites present in bush tea. Orthogonal partial least square-discriminatory analysis (OPLS-DA) from <jats:sup>1</jats:sup>H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) revealed a separation between the basal, middle, top pruning, and the unpruned bush tea plants. The pruned (top) and unpruned tea plants, exhibited higher levels of metabolites than the basal and middle pruned. Pruning bush tea showed a significant effect on accumulation of secondary metabolites and thus could enhance bush tea quality. The study successfully annotated 28 metabolites (compounds), which elucidated canonical differences in pruning treatment of bush tea, as validated through multivariate analysis. Top pruning (apically pruned) resulted in improved metabolite accumulation than other treatment and can be recommended in bush tea cultivation. Future studies to enhance vegetative enhancement after pruning will be evaluated.</jats:p>

Response of Plant Growth and Development, and Accumulation of Hydroxyl-cinnamoyl Acid Derivatives to Selected Shade Nets and Seasonality of Field-grown Bush Tea (Athrixia phylicoides DC.)

“…Previous studies have documented the effects of cultural practices such as mineral nutrition (Mudau et al, 2006), pruning (Mohale et al, 2018;Yilmaz et al, 2004), irrigation (Bandara, 2012) and harvesting methods (Mphangwe, 2012), as well as processing (Hlahla, 2010) and environmental conditions (Tshivhandekano et al, 2013) on chemical compositions of bush tea. The quality, economic value, and health function of bush tea is determined by the content of secondary metabolites such as flavonoids (or phenolic compounds), alkaloids, and amino acids (Tounekti et al, 2013).…”

Metabolomic Analyses Provide New Insights into Signaling Mechanisms for Nutrient Uptake by Lateral Roots of Pruned Tea Plant (Camellia sinensis)

“…9 Pruning promotes the synthesis of secondary metabolites in shoots of tea plants. 10 Conversely, other studies have reported that secondary metabolites are not significantly altered by pruning but rather appear to be associated with leaf growth stages. 11 In the present study, pruning significantly altered metabolites, which consequently influenced various metabolic processes and mechanisms in lateral roots.…”

“…Plants synthesize secondary metabolites through the secondary metabolism in response to physiological stimuli associated with agronomic practices such as pruning . Pruning promotes the synthesis of secondary metabolites in shoots of tea plants . Conversely, other studies have reported that secondary metabolites are not significantly altered by pruning but rather appear to be associated with leaf growth stages .…”

Effect of Plant Growth Regulator on Growth, Yield and Catechin Content of Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O.Kuntze)

“…The difference lies in many leaves and branches that must be left behind and the high level of pruning from the ground surface. A study conducted by Mohale et al [10] showed that the pruned (top) and unpruned tea plants exhibited higher levels of metabolites than the basal and middle pruned. Pruning bush tea showed a significant effect on the accumulation of secondary metabolites and thus could enhance bush tea quality.…”