Tweaking the group of microorganisms discovered on the roots of tea crops might make your favorite brew even tastier.

Simply because the micro organism that dwell in our guts can affect our well being, the microbes that dwell in and round plant roots play a task in how vegetation absorbs vitamins from the soil. However little is understood about their affect on the flavour and dietary content material of tea, says Zhenbiao Yang on the College of California, Riverside.

To be taught extra, Yang and his colleagues collected and analysed tea crops (Camellia sinensis) grown in Fujian province, China. They discovered that sure soil microbes have been linked to larger nitrogen uptake, which boosted the manufacturing of a chemical referred to as theanine within the plant’s roots, and therefore ranges within the leaves, particularly in a range referred to as Rougui.

Theanine provides a wealthy, umami style to brews and the way a lot of it’s current is taken into account a key marker of a tea’s high quality. It additionally has antioxidant and anti inflammatory properties and may counter the stimulating impact of caffeine, says Yang.

For the subsequent stage of their examine, the researchers extracted 21 of essentially the most helpful microbes for theanine from soil to provide a bespoke microbial group, the composition of which was extraordinarily just like that discovered naturally round Rougui.

Making use of this combine to the roots of different sorts of tea plant enhanced theanine ranges, even in these grown in nitrogen-poor soils. “Not solely are there larger well being advantages, it additionally improves the candy and savoury flavour of tea,” says Yang.

The group hopes that bespoke microbial communities can be used to good tea high quality sooner or later and enhance the dietary worth of different crops, akin to rice.

“Rising the effectivity of nitrogen absorption also can scale back our reliance on fertilisers, which might have big implications for the way forward for agriculture too,” says Yang.