A few months back a friend took me to visit a tea plantation in Karnataka. Those green plantations on the side of a mountain with a beautiful valley on the other side were a view I can stay in forever. A picturesque landscape I carry on with me. Those green shrubs filling the entire area of land. I think this is what comes to most of your minds as well when I talk about tea plantations.
But well what if I told you that green was not the only color. What did you think of hearing about Albino tea? Yes, albino tea is exactly how it sounds. It usually is of paler color – yellowish or whitish in appearance. But how did these come into existence? Well, I can think about only one word – Mutation. This mutation made them such that they reduce the number of chlorophyll under some conditions. Which conditions you may ask? Let’s find out.
There is one variety that sticks to its original paler color when in sunlight but beautifully turns green when in shade. How amazing is that? These are the photosensitive ones. These leaves had lesser chloroplasts – meaning the organelles which attribute the green color to the leaves utilizing the pigment chlorophyll. And yet, there is the other variety of leaves that stick to their original paler color when in a cold climate. The temperature rises, and Voila! It is green again. Du et al., 2010 studied that these leaves changed to green at 20 DC or above. For these leaves, the chloroplasts decreased with a decrease in temperature. These behaviors do not apply to normal green cultivars. They would remain green in both conditions. So how would you distinguish a green tea and white tea leaf if it is in warmer conditions or when it's in shade? Near-infrared spectroscopy and chemometrics make come to the rescue.
This being discussed, it is worth here to mention that ‘Albino’ only refers to the type of tea leaves before being processed. Thus, these and standard tea leaves both can be processed into the same types of teas.
However, the sensory characteristics in terms of flavor and aroma could be measurably different. Albino tea is lesser fragrant, because of its lower flavor compounds in them. (Z)-3-hexenol and linalool are lesser in content compared to the original ones. Moreover, the Albino Tea is also said to have a more delicate taste. Why? Well, the good amount of amino acids in it gives it a sweet and umami flavor when brewed. L-theanine in particular is quite high and gives a calming effect. Another striking difference, when compared to green tea leaves, is that the amount of caffeine and catechins are also lower. Caffeine and catechins contribute to astringency and bitterness. So, is a lower amount a good news or a bad news? In general, Albino tea has more Umami Taste, lesser astringency, and almost no bitterness.
Anji Bai Cha is well appraised in the world of Albino tea cultivars. Anji is the name of the province where it is found. Not only in terms of taste, but with large leaves and a short harvest period, it quite stands out. It is one of the most expensive teas in China. Some other noteworthy mentions are of course Bai Ye and Bai Ji Guan which are frequently used to make oolong tea.
This tea has been discovered in recent years. The research continues as their survival rates in the case of transplants are quite low due to fewer chloroplasts, in case of intense sunlight, they may not be able to withstand the conditions.
I had a lot of fun writing an article after a long time. Hope you guys had as much fun as me, reading about this exquisite tea cultivar. See you guys soon in the upcoming article!
References
2. Du Y, Chen H, Zhong W, et al (2010) Effect of temperature on accumulation of chlorophylls and leaf ultrastructure of low temperature induced albino tea plant. African Journal of Biotechnology 7:1881–1885. https://doi.org/10.4314/ajb.v7i12.58832
3. Li, R.L. & Kong, Y.L. 2010 The research and development of albino tea cultivars Jiangsu Agr. Sci. 6 12 15 (in Chinese)
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