In field trials, the improved fertilization strategy increased tea yield by 22%–29%, raised free amino acid levels including theanine, improved soil nutrient availability, and strengthened soil quality. The researchers further found that these benefits were linked mainly to shifts in soil bacterial communities rather than fungal ones, pointing to a new path for precision nutrient management in high-value tea plantations and more sustainable premium tea production.
Anji Baicha is highly valued because of its distinctive albino leaves and rich accumulation of free amino acids, especially theanine, which contribute to its signature umami taste. Yet maintaining this desirable trait in the field is difficult. Conventional fertilization practices can protect leaf albinism but often fail to support strong yield and stable quality, while excessive or imbalanced fertilizer use may acidify soils, disrupt nutrient uptake, and reduce flavor-related compounds. Previous studies have suggested that both balanced N-P-K management and magnesium nutrition are important for tea growth and quality, but their combined effects in albino tea plantations remained unclear. These challenges made it necessary to investigate whether a more rational fertilization strategy could improve both productivity and quality while preserving the crop’s defining commercial trait.
A study (DOI: 10.48130/bpr-0025-0043) published in Beverage Plant Research on 13 March 2026 by Jianyun Ruan’s team, Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences, reports that optimized fertilization, especially when paired with magnesium, improved yield, amino acid accumulation, soil quality, and microbial structure while maintaining leaf albinism.
The team conducted a field experiment in Anji County, Zhejiang, comparing three treatments in a plantation of the albino cultivar ‘Baiye 1’: farmers’ fertilization practice, optimized N-P-K fertilization, and optimized N-P-K plus magnesium. They measured tea yield, chlorophyll, amino acids, catechins, shoot and root nutrient levels, soil chemical properties, and the soil quality index. They also sequenced bacterial and fungal communities, analyzed microbial diversity and co-occurrence networks, and used random forest models to identify microbial biomarkers associated with tea performance. The results showed that both optimized treatments significantly increased yield, while magnesium further strengthened amino acid accumulation and lowered the polyphenol-to-amino acid ratio, a shift favorable for taste quality. Importantly, chlorophyll content did not increase significantly, meaning the economically important albino trait was preserved. In the soil, the optimized treatments improved nutrient availability, and the magnesium treatment sharply raised soil quality index values while reducing acidification and available aluminum. Microbial analyses revealed that magnesium enhanced bacterial richness, altered both bacterial and fungal community composition, and increased positive bacterial interactions in soil networks. Predictive modeling showed that bacterial biomarkers explained more of the variation in tea yield and amino acid content than fungal biomarkers, indicating that bacterial community shifts were the dominant biological driver behind the agronomic gains.
Overall, the study suggests that premium albino tea production can be improved not by simply adding more fertilizer, but by using a better-balanced nutrient formula that also supports healthier soil biology. By linking fertilization design with bacterial community structure, the work offers a practical framework for improving tea yield, flavor-related chemistry, and soil sustainability at the same time. It also highlights a broader lesson for specialty crop farming: managing the microbiome may be just as important as managing the nutrients themselves.
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References
DOI
Original Source URL
https://doi.org/10.48130/bpr-0025-0043
Funding Information
This research was supported by the Yunnan Provincial Special Fund for the Construction of a Science and Technology Innovation Base (Grant No. 202402AE090015), the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. LY23C150008), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2021YFD1601100), the China Agriculture Research System of MOF and MARA (Grant No. CARS-19), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos 42407459, 32172634).
About Beverage Plant Research
Beverage Plant Research (e-ISSN 2769-2108) is the official journal of Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and China Tea Science Society. Beverage Plant Research is an open-access, online-only journal published by Maximum Academic Press. Beverage Plant Research publishes original research, methods, reviews, editorials, and perspectives that advance the biology, chemistry, processing, and health functions of tea and other important beverage plants.
Beverage Plant Research
Experimental study
Not applicable
Optimizing N-P-K ratios with magnesium supply improves tea yield and quality primarily by modulating soil bacterial communities in an albino tea plantation
13-Mar-2026
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.