Quality assessment of locally produced black tea in Sardauna Local Government area of Taraba State, Nigeria

Background: Tea processing is a big investment among local tea processors on the Mambilla plateau. Tea processing technique and processing facilities are important factors that determine the quality of black tea. Locally fabricated equipment is used by local tea processors due to their inability to procure multimillion naira worth of CTC machine. The current study seeks to evaluate the quality of black tea processed by the local processors.

Methods: Locally processed black tea samples were obtained from local tea processors on the Mambilla Plateau in Taraba State, Nigeria. Processed black tea samples were also obtained from the tea processing companies on the Mambilla Plateau. The various tea samples were analyzed for biochemical quality parameters using standard procedures.

Results: Proximate analysis showed that, crude protein ranged between 0.97 and 1.98%; crude fiber ranged from 19.93-25.66%; moisture content ranged from 6.76 – 10.81%; fat content ranged from 0.32 – 2.60; ash content ranged between 3.76 and 7.83%; total phenol content ranged from 90.00 – 134 mg GAE/g; caffeine ranged from2.10 – 4.16mg/100g; DPPH free radical scavenging assay ranged from 0.021- 0.079EC50; theaflavin content ranged from 5.10 – 12.62mg/g while thearubigin ranged from 64.00 – 114.00mg/g.

Conclusion: Quality evaluation of the black tea samples showed that, the locally processed black tea was adequate in some quality parameters while there was quality deficit in moisture content, crude fibre, thearubigin and theaflavin. The processing techniques and facilities used by the local tea processors require upgrading to meet the desired quality standards.