Challenges of maintaining tea quality

Abstract

Tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) is an important cash crop contributing to economic wellbeing and wealth in many developing countries. The crop creates employment opportunities and development in the rural areas in addition to generating foreign exchange. Tea beverages are the second most consumed fluids after water. For such a widely consumed product, quality maintenance is of utmost importance. Quality tea refers to tea with components that are desirable to the market and that does not subject consumers to health risks. Such quality criteria should be based on" reliable, measurable and reproducible" parameters, verifiable through independent analysis. For black tea, the ISO 3720 developed, set limits on water extract, total ash, water soluble ash, alkalinity of water soluble ash, acid soluble ash and crude fibre but excluded moisture content though …