Walnut-tea intercropping model: Variations in secondary metabolites and microbial interactions in tea under metabolomics perspective

作者：Houqiao Wang, Wenxia Yuan, Wei Huang, Qiaomei Wang, Tianyu Wu, Chun Wang, Weihao Liu, Shize Zhang, Baijuan Wang · 发表于：Industrial Crops and Products · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.indcrop.2025.120774 · 被引用次数：13 · 研究领域：Tea Polyphenols and Effects、Fermentation and Sensory Analysis、Heavy Metals in Plants

The walnut-tea intercropping model has garnered attention for its potential to enhance land use efficiency and agricultural economic benefits. However, the research on tea gardens under this model has been insufficient. In this study, we employed metabolomics and 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing to investigate the effects of walnut-tea tree intercropping (CH) on soil microbial diversity and tea secondary metabolites, comparing these effects with monoculture (DZ) and post-walnut felling models (HK). The goal is to understand soil-plant-microbe interactions, thereby informing strategies to enhance tea quality in intercropping systems. Results showed that, compared with monoculture, the walnut-tea intercropping model increased soil nutrients significantly, particularly total nitrogen, available potassium, alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen and soil organic matter, and altered the composition of secondary metabolites in tea, exactly, the content of flavonoids, polyphenols and alkaloids were increased, while the content of amino acids were on the contrary. Microbial community analysis revealed significant changes in the abundance of fungal and bacterial communities, with increases in Agaricaceae and Mortierellaceae fungi, and Pseudolabrys, Candidatus_Koribacter and Bryobacter bacteria being significant factors which contributed to the significant up-regulation of flavonoids, polyphenols and alkaloids. It was also found that the soil microbial community underwent reversible changes afte...