Strong Solar Irradiance Reduces Growth and Alters Catechins Concentration in Tea Plants over Winter

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of sunlight and chilling on growth, photosynthesis and chemical composition of tea plants growing in South Korea. The plants were grown in full sun (mid-day photosynthetic photon flux density, PPFD of 563 μmol-2s-1), slight shade (PPFD of 99 μmol-2s-1) or heavy shade (HS, PPFD of 5 μmol-2s-1) in a field at the foot of pine forest from October to March, 2012. Mean and minimum daily temperature...