Impact of different shades and light intensities on physiological changes in tea plant

Abstract

The tea plant (Camellia sinensis L.) is grown in more than 52 countries in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world and is considered a significant source of revenue. It is a shade-loving plant that had originated in the forest under-story and it is usually grown as a mono-crop under shade trees throughout its lifetime [1]. There are a lot of positive effects of having shade trees in tea fields, including protecting tea plants from high temperature, direct solar radiation and acting as a wind barrier [2]. Varying responses in terms of productivity under different shade, conditions have been reported in several studies [3, 4], leading to a controversy over the need for a suitable shade management in tea plantations. However, the photosynthetic characterization of tea leaves under different shade levels with different light intensities are not well understood, although it has been studied in other tropical trees such as Theobroma cacao [5]. Hence, to enhance photosynthesis with different light intensities and shade levels, knowledge of the physiological parameters of tea leaves are important to identify superior traits that could be incorporated in developing proper shade management strategies. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to examine the photosynthetic behavior and some related physiological parameters of mature tea bushes under different levels of shade with different light intensities.