Scientists from Nanjing Agricultural University have studied the content of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in three different cultivars of Camellia sinensis (Anjibaicha, Yingshuang and Huangjinya) in leaves of three development stages (1st, 2nd and 3d leaves). First, the researchers determined which of the leaves have the highest content of ascorbic acid. The first leaves of Huangjinya cultivar was the richest in vitamin C, and the third leaves of all plants were the poorest. Then they identified genes responsible for that. Their next step will be to explore the possibility to increase the content of ascorbic acid via metabolic engineering and transgenic engineering in tea plant leaves. And then youthfulness, beauty and high immunity will become inevitable.
It’s noteworthy that of the three cultivars used in this study, two — Anjibaicha and Huangjinya — are Albino tea cultivars. And the content of ascorbic acid in these cultivars is higher than in the green-leaf cultivar Yingshuang.
