Matcha is often added to drinks and desserts.
Climate change threatens matcha — a traditional Japanese tea that has become popular worldwide. Warmer nights and unstable spring temperatures in Japan reduce yields and spoil its characteristic umami flavor, writes NewScientist.
Premium tencha (tea leaves grown in the shade and ground into matcha) thrives best in spring with daytime temperatures of 20-25°C and cool nights — it is precisely this temperature difference that aids in the formation of amino acids that give the umami flavor. However, spring temperatures in the Kyoto-Uji region (the home of the best matcha) have risen by 0.6-1°C over the past 100 years. Heat also intensifies the production of catechins — bitter protective compounds in the plant.
Scientists have started using genomic selection to identify signs of heat resistance in seedlings at a much earlier stage, without waiting for them to mature. This is already being implemented in Japanese tea breeding programs. However, the method is not ideal: DNA cannot always accurately predict a plant's properties, and existing genomic databases are currently small. Specialists emphasize that the goal of genomic analysis is not to replace field trials, but to help pre-screen less promising plants before long, multi-year trials.
There are concerns that heat resistance might affect the taste of matcha, but scientists consider this risk low — no clear genetic link between heat resistance and bitterness has yet been found. In their opinion, plants can be simultaneously bred for both heat resistance and good taste.
But only time will tell the final results.
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