Longevity and factors influencing photosynthesis in tea leaves

Abstract

Quadratic relationship between the age of a tea leaf and the net photosynthetic rate (P(N)) has been found. A progressive increase in P(N) was recorded for four months. Then the P(N) slowly declined, yet even seven-month-old tea leaves sustained a low P(N). In a tea shoot, the P(N) increased from the first leaf onwards. Besides the physiological maturity and proximity, photon flux density (PFD) played an important role in reducing the P(N). The tea leaf P(N) was influenced by cultivation procedures which in turn disrupted the quantum of PFD transmitted through the canopy.