Theaflavin values of various tea clones and selections grown in the northern Transvaal

Abstract

Different grades of black tea of several clones and selections from a tea estate in the northern Transvaal were tested for theaflavin (TF) content. In the pekoe dust (PD) grade there were no significant differences in TF values. In the broken orange pekoe fannings (BOPF) grade, ‘PC 1’ had the highest TF content, significantly higher than four other clones except ‘TRI 6/8’. In the broken orange pekoe (BOP) grade, ‘PC 1’ was again higher than ‘Clone’, ‘MT 12’ and ‘SFS 204’. For the different tea grades TF values were higher in PD than in BOPF and BOP grades for ‘Clone’, ‘MT 12’ and ‘SFS 204’. There was a tendency for finer grades to give higher TF values than coarser grades.