Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) is recalcitrant to Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation largely due to the bactericidal effects of tea polyphenols and phenolics oxidation induced by necrosis of explant tissue over the process of transformation. In this study, different antioxidants/adsorbents were added as supplements to the co-cultivation and post co-cultivation media to overcome these problems for the transformation improvement. Tea-cotyledon-derived calli were used as explants and Agrobacterium rhizognes strain ATCC 15834 was used as a mediator. Results showed that Agrobacterium growth, virulence (vir) gene expression and browning of explant tissue were greatly influenced by different supplements. Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal salts medium supplemented with 30 g·L⁻¹ sucrose, 0.1 g·L⁻¹ l-glutamine and 5 g·L⁻¹ polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP) as co-cultivation and post co-cultivation media could maintain these parameters better that ultimately led to significant improvement of hairy root generation efficiency compared to that in the control (MS + 30 g·L⁻¹ sucrose). Additionally, the reporter genes β-glucuronidase (gusA) and cyan fluorescent protein (cfp) were also stably expressed in the transgenic hairy roots. Our study would be helpful in establishing a feasible approach for tea biological studies and genetic improvement of tea varieties.

Tea volatiles’ generation and retention over manufacturing processes are crucial for tea quality. In this study, floral volatile adsorption and retention in green tea scented with Jasminum sambac flowers were examined over the scenting process. Out of 34 enhanced volatiles in the scented tea, β-ionone, β-linalool, indole, and methyl anthranilate were the most potent odorants with 5.1–45.2-fold higher odor activity values than the corresponding controls in the nonscented tea. Scenting efficiencies for the floral volatiles retained in the scented tea (the percentage of volatile abundance over its corresponding amount in jasmine flowers) ranged from 0.22% for α-farnesene to 75.5% for β-myrcene. Moreover, due to additional rounds of heat treatment for scented green tea manufacturing, some volatiles such as carotenoid-derived geraniol and β-ionone and lipid-derived (Z)-jasmone were heat-enhanced and others such as nonanal were heat-desorbed in the scented green tea. Our study revealed that dynamic volatile absorption and desorption collectively determined tea volatile retention and tea aroma. Our findings may have a great potential for practical improvement of tea aroma.

This paper presents data related to an article entitled "Green tea flavor determinants and their changes over manufacturing processes" (Han et al., 2016) [1]. Green tea samples were prepared with steaming and pan firing treatments from the tender leaves of tea cultivars 'Bai-Sang Cha' ('BAS') and 'Fuding-Dabai Cha' ('FUD'). Aroma compounds from the tea infusions were detected and quantified using HS-SPME coupled with GC/MS. Sensory evaluation was also made for characteristic tea flavor. The data shows the abundances of the detected aroma compounds, their threshold values and odor characteristics in the two differently processed tea samples as well as two different cultivars.