This paper systematically and comprehensively summarized the bibliometrics studies in the field of tea science, tracing their development and summarizing research across several subfields, including traditional tea categories, tea garden management and physiological and biochemical research of tea plants, deep processing and tea products, efficacy and health functions, tea culture and industry, quality and testing. On the whole, the bibliometrics research in tea science has largely covered most subdivisions after more than 30 years of development, but gaps remain in areas such as tea processing and mechanical equipment, as well as in traditional teas like white tea, yellow tea and scented tea. This review aims to clarify existing research themes and highlight future research directions for scholars in the field of tea science.

Tea polyphenols, catechins and theaflavins are active substances in tea, which have obvious antibacterial activities in vivo and in vitro against various pathogenic microorganisms. As an important part of human microbiota, the relationship between oral microbiota and human health has become the focus of research in various fields. The experimental results have shown that phenolic compounds of tea have a definite inhibitory effect on oral opportunistic pathogens such as Streptococcus mutans and Porphyromonas gingivalis, etc., and can be used as potential oral flora regulators, which are widely used in dental caries, periodontal diseases and other oral diseases. This paper summarized the inhibitory activities of representative phenolic compounds in tea against oral pathogens and their effects on oral health, in order to provide reference for related basic research and clinical techniques.

Theaflavins (TFs), with the benzophenone rings as the mother core and a number of hydroxyl groups or phenolic hydroxyl compounds, are a kind of water-soluble pigments formed by the fermentation (enzymatic oxidation) of polyphenols in tea. As the main components of black tea pigments, they have a significant impact on the color and taste of tea soup. TFs have numerous pharmacological effects, such as regulating blood lipids, antioxidation, anti-inflammatory and bacteriostasis, antiviral, and anti-tumor, enabling them to have great application potential in the fields of food industry, biological medicine, daily chemical products, ecological protection and animal husbandry, etc. This research summarizes the physical and chemical properties, active efficacy, and application status of TFs, points out the problems and puts forward countermeasures in the application of TFs. It is expected to provide a reference for the in-depth exploration of TFs efficacy and cross-border development and application.

Granular green tea is an important category of green tea in Zhejiang Province. Based on an investigation of the production status, processing techniques and equipment, quality, and standards construction of granular green tea in Zhejiang Province, this paper has formulated a group standard for the Zhejiang Tea Science Society on granular green tea. It also presents the reflections and recommendations for the future development of the granular green tea industry in Zhejiang Province, providing valuable references for its healthy, orderly, and high-quality development.

In order to address the serious soil acidification and compaction issues in aged tea gardens, four different fertilization treatments were implemented to analyze their effects on soil conditions and tea quality, aiming to identify the most effective soil improvement approach for severely acidified tea gardens. The results showed that applying a combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers, as well as biochar, could increase soil pH by 0.72 and 0.3 units, respectively. The combined application of organic and inorganic fertilizer had a significant effect on the content of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) in the soil, as well as the microbial activity. Compared with the CK, the combined application of organic and inorganic fertilizers increased the content of tea extract of spring tea by1.5% and 3.05%, the content of tea polyphenols by 0.67% and 2.2%, and the content of theanine by 0.08% and 0.32% over two years. Sensory analysis showed that the combination of biochar and organic fertilizer had the most obvious effect on improving the tea quality in the aged tea garden, followed by the combination of organic and inorganic fertilizer. Therefore, for severely acidified aged tea gardens, the combined application of organic fertilizer and biochar, or biochar and organic fertilizer, can be recommended as effective soil improvement strategies.

Tea beverages are highly favored by consumers due to their combination of healthy and delicious quality characteristics, gradually becoming the main force in the beverage market. With the upgrading of people’s consumption and living needs, standardization and healthiness of tea beverage are becoming key high -quality development tea beverage industry. On the basis of summarizing and analyzing the current situation of standardization and it’s technical requirements in the field of tea beverage, standardization level and problems of freshly-made tea beverages are investigated in this paper. The future prospect for the improvement of the standardization level are proposed, providing valuable references for high-quality and efficient development of the tea beverage industry.