Changes in the quality parameters of seedling tea due to height and frequency of mechanical harvesting

Quality parameters of black tea change due to the use of a mechanical harvester, varying plucking round lengths and plucking heights. Compared with hand plucking, mechanically harvested teas have inferior quality as measured by volatile flavour compounds, theaflavins and caffeine. Similarly, longer plucking rounds produced inferior teas compared with shorter rounds. Raising mechanical plucking height by 2 cm from the previous plucking height caused less quality deterioration than increasing the height by 1 cm irrespective of plucking rounds.