Establishment of in Vitro Hapliids of Tea Camellia SPP and Their Potential for the Production of Secondary Metabolites

Abstract

The tea plant is a tropical, evergreen plant of the family Theaceae and genus Camellia. It is one of the most economically important beverage crops in the world. Chinese were the first to use tea as medicinal drink, later as beverage and have been doing so far for more than 3000 years. The original home or primary centre of origin of tea was South-East Asia. The cultivated taxa of tea comprise three main types, which are mainly differentiated on the basis of their leaf size. Assam type has the b