Shifting rain patterns affect key compounds in tea that determine its flavour and health properties, according to a new study.
Researchers including professor Selena Ahmed from the Montana State University found that major antioxidant compounds that determine tea health properties and flavour, including epigallocatechin, epigallocatechin gallate and catechin fell up to 50 per cent in an area of southwest China during an extreme monsoon, while other compounds increased.
Household income from the sales of tea grown during the extreme monsoon also dropped by up to 50 per cent, Ahmed said.
They also interviewed tea farmers, who perceived the tea grown during the monsoon to be of lower quality and preferred tea grown outside of the monsoon season.
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The results of the research could have significant impacts on farmers' livelihoods around the globe, said Ahmed, the paper's lead author.
"Extrapolating findings from this study with climate scenarios suggests that tea farmers will face increased variability in their livelihoods with the increased prevalence and intensity of extreme droughts and heavy rains associated with climate change," Ahmed said.
"We are very interested in understanding not only how climate impacts tea quality and farmer livelihoods, but also the factors that enable farmers to adapt to climate risk," study's co-author, Rick Stepp, an associate professor of cultural anthropology at the University of Florida, said.
The finding was published in the journal PLOS ONE.