Determination of quality characteristics and green tea production from tea leaves grown in different region in Turkey

The quality characteristics (water extraction yield, amounts of total polyphenols, cafein, catechin, minerals, etc.) of green teas produced from leaves collected from Çaykur Tea Plants; Cumhuriyet, Tirebolu, Hemşin Organik and Sabuncular Organik at the Second Sprout Period (July - August) in 2017-Tea Season were determined in this study. The suitability of leaves collected from different locations for the production of green tea as well as the changes during processing were therefore evaulated. Green tea produced from the leaves obtained from Tirebolu exhibited higher amounts of water extraction yield, total polyphenols, cafein, catechin, minerals and etc. when compared to leaves collected from other locations. It conformed to chemical and physical characteristics stated in The Notification for Green Tea in Turkish Food Codex. The water extraction yield, total polyphenol, cafein, total cathechin and epigallocathechin gallate (EGCG) content of dry green tea produced from wet leaves collected from Tirebolu were found to be 37.68, 16.93, 2.59, 16.26 and 9.41 %, respectively. When sensory characteristics were evaluated, green tea samples produced using leaves from Tirebolu also had the highest scores.