Summary
This field study investigates the mechanisms by which tea/soybean intercropping improves tea quality, focusing on belowground nutrient dynamics. Results demonstrate that intercropping significantly elevated tea leaf polyphenols (14.76–15.23%), amino acids (14.73–16.36%), and water extracts (4.36–8.99%), alongside increases in rhizosphere nutrient availability and soil enzyme activity. Correlation analysis suggests that soybean-mediated nitrogen and phosphorus mobilisation in the rhizosphere drives these tea quality improvements, offering mechanistic insights for sustainable tea cultivation.
Regional applicability
Tea cultivation is not a major UK agricultural system, limiting direct applicability. However, the intercropping principles—particularly relating to nitrogen cycling, rhizosphere enzyme activity, and multi-species nutrient mobilisation—may inform temperate mixed farming and horticulture practices seeking to improve soil health and crop quality without synthetic inputs.
Key measures
Tea leaf water extracts (%), polyphenols (%), amino acids (%), soil organic matter, available nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, acid phosphatase activity, alkaline phosphatase activity, urease activity, β-glucosidase activity, soybean shoot biomass, root biomass, nodule weight, nodule number, tissue N/P/K content
Outcomes reported
The study measured tea leaf quality parameters (water extracts, polyphenols, amino acids), soil nutrient availability and enzyme activities in the tea rhizosphere, and soybean growth metrics across two cultivation stages under intercropping versus monoculture conditions. Correlation analysis was used to link tea quality improvements to soil nutrient mobilisation and soybean-mediated belowground interactions.
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