Genetic Phenotype of Catechins in Tea Plants Hybrid F_1 Generation

The hybrid F1 generation of the new tea plants with high EGCG content were used in this experimentation to study the genetic phenotype of catechins.The results showed that(a) the contents of EGC,EC,EGCG,ECG,ester-catechins,simple catechins and TC(total catechins),the ratios of ester-catechins/TC,simple catechins/TC,EGCG/caffeine and EGCG/TC,as well as the catechin quality index of the tea plants differed significantly among different varieties;(b) the differences among the hybrid combinations reached a significant level according to Kruskal Wallis and the robust tests;and(c) the different hybrid combinations separated very significantly from one another based on the homogeneity of variance test.The TC distribution in the F1 generation of the hybrid combinations was determined by the genetic heritability.The distribution of individual plants with high EGCG,high ester-catechins and high quality catechins index was also determined by the heritability of their parents′ genetic.