Abstract:
A study was conducted to determine the effect of fermentation temperature and
duration on chemical composition of bush tea (Athrixia phylicoides DC.). Bush tea
was fermented in incubators at different temperatures and for different lengths of
time for quality improvement. Treatments for fermentation temperature consisted of
control (24°C; room temperature), 30°C, 34°C, 38°C and 42°C where the tea leaves
were fermented for 30 minutes. Treatments for fermentation time consisted of control
(0), 60, 90, and 120 minutes at an incubator temperature of 22-26°C. A completely
randomized design (CRD) was used with three replicates for both evaluations. The
chemical analysis (polyphenols, tannins and antioxidants) were done using
Waterman and Mole (1994) method. The results of this study demonstrated that
fermentation temperature significantly increases polyphenols at 30, 34, and 38°C
whereas tannin content showed a great reduction at 38 and 42°C. Increasing
fermentation time achieved a significant increase in both polyphenols (60 and 90
minutes) and tannin contents (90 and 120 minutes). However, changes in either
fermentation temperature or time did not give any significant influence on antioxidant
content of bush tea.
