Hongyacha: Caffeine-Free Tea Plant Discovered in China

Hongyacha, a new type of wild tea plant from the mountains of southern China, contains little or no caffeine, according to a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Leaves and young shoots of hongyacha. Image credit: Ji-Qiang Jin et al, doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.8b03433.

Leaves and young shoots of hongyacha. Image credit: Ji-Qiang Jin et al, doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.8b03433.

“Hongyacha is a wild tea plant only distributed in the narrow mountain area at altitudes of 2,300-3,300 feet (700-1,000 m) of several neighboring villages in the southern region of Fujian Province,” said lead author Dr. Liang Chen from China’s Tea Research Institute and colleagues.

“Local people believe that drinking this tea can reduce internal heat, cure colds, and heal stomach pains, etc.”

“However, given its narrow and special distribution, detailed information about hongyacha is lacking.”

Hongyacha. Image credit: Ji-Qiang Jin et al, doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.8b03433.

Hongyacha. Image credit: Ji-Qiang Jin et al, doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.8b03433.

In the new study, Dr. Chen and co-authors characterized the chemical components of hongyacha by using high-performance liquid chromatography.

They found that buds and leaves of hongyacha contain several potentially health-promoting compounds and virtually no caffeine.

“In regular tea, the main purine alkaloids and catechins are caffeine and cis-catechins; by contrast, hongyacha predominantly contains trans-catechins, theobromine, and undetectable caffeine,” they explained.

“We also found some rare compounds in hongyacha, such as gallocatechin-(4 → 8)-gallocatechin gallate, 1,3,4,6-tetra-O-galloyl-β-d-glucopyranose, and (−)-gallocatechin-3,5-di-O-gallate, which were not detected in regular tea.”

Digging deeper, the team found that hongyacha has a mutation in the gene encoding the enzyme tea caffeine synthase, which promotes caffeine production in most tea plants.

“Naturally low-caffeine hongyacha could possibly become a popular drink because of its distinct composition and unique health benefits,” the scientists said.

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Ji-Qiang Jin et al. 2018. Hongyacha, a Naturally Caffeine-Free Tea Plant from Fujian, China. J. Agric. Food Chem 66 (43): 11311-11319; doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.8b03433

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