I-Corps: An accelerated growing platform for the production of tea

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of an accelerated growing platform for the efficient production of high-quality tea. Camellia sinensis, the plant from which tea is extracted, is an evergreen woody plant. It takes approximately 2 years to propagate liners from mother stock and an additional 5 years of field growth before reaching a steady production potential of approximately 0.5 lbs dried tea per plant per year. It costs ~$100K/acre to establish a 3,600-plant density, not including land costs. The proposed technology has the potential to reduce the time to harvest from 7 years to 6 months, it may be rapidly scaled, and the chemical profile of the leaf grown is tunable through specific nutrient applications. In addition, the technology may be used to produce novel tea products for consumers.This I-Corps project is based on the development of platform technology to accelerate tea plant growth that, in conjunction with proprietary nutrient solutions, reduce the time to tea harvest from years to weeks. In addition, the health and sensory attributes of the tea leaf produced in the proposed technology are tunable to desired qualities and consumer preferences. The technology may be easily adopted by farmers wishing to diversify their crops. The proposed technology system is especially well suited for growing tea in automated controlled indoor environments. Indoor production of tea may have a commercial advantage compared to existing tea production approaches because the chemical content of the leaf may be controlled by nutrient application and limited exposure to microbes and pathogens. Combining the rapid growth platform with tuning of sensory and health attributes offers enormous tea marketing potential.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.