Tea is consumed daily by billions of people for its attractive taste and significant health benefits conferred by its abundant secondary metabolites (catechins, caffeine, theanine, aroma, etc.). The metabolism of these tea quality-conferring metabolites, as well as the yield of tea, is fundamentally regulated by mineral nutrients.
Tea (the beverage) is made from the tender shoots of tea plants (Camellia sinensis L.). Multiple rounds of picking tea plant shoots in one year takes away a large amount of mineral elements, especially nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). N and P are directly involved in the biosynthesis of the secondary metabolites, while K is critical of the catalytic activities of more than 60 enzymes involved in various physiological and biochemical processes. Therefore, inorganic and organic fertilizers need to be applied in order to maintain improved tea quality and yield.
However, the tea quality is just positively correlated with the nutrient levels when the nutrient levels are in proper ranges. When the contents are higher than the thresholds, the nutrients reduce tea quality. To pursue higher tea yields, farmers usually overuse fertilizers. The overuse causes many soil and environmental problems, such as soil hardening, water eutrophication, and air pollution. On the other hand, many tea plantations rarely use fertilizers, resulting in the tea plants suffering nutrient deficiency. To achieve the sustainable production of tea, it is crucial to develop tea plant cultivars with high nutrient use-efficiency as well as optical nutrient management practices. To achieve this goal, there is a need to fully understand how tea plants efficiently acquire and utilize mineral nutrients and how these nutrients regulate tea quality and yield formation.

The goal of this research topic is to gather the latest advances in mineral nutrients on tea quality and yield. We welcome submissions of original research papers, reviews, and methods, including (but not limited to) research on the following sub-themes:
• Molecular mechanism underlying the mineral nutrients acquisition, translocation and use efficiency in tea plants.
• Regulation of mineral nutrients on the tea quality-conferring secondary metabolism.
• Regulation of mineral nutrients on the development and biotic/abiotic stresses.
• Mineral nutrients on the coordination of tea quality and yield formation.
• Roles of aluminum (Al), fluoride (F), and microbes in tea quality and yield formation.
• Optimization of nutrient management practices to improve nutrient use efficiency.
• Strategies for rational application of fertilizers in organic tea gardens.

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Frontiers in Plant Science

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