Geographical Discrimination of Pu-Erh Tea by the Determination of Elements by Low-Power Total Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence (TXRF) and Caffeine and Polyphenols by Spectrophotometry

Teas of the same type in a small growing area are generally similar, and identification of their detailed geographic origin is challenging and interesting. In this study, a convenient method for distinguishing Pu-erh teas from nearby locations was developed by combining two spectroscopic techniques with chemometric methods. The distinction was based on the difference in the mineral elements and organic metabolites from tea infusions. First, Pu-erh tea was infused with water at 90 °C for 30 min. Total reflection X-ray fluorescence and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopies were used to determine the elements (P, S, K, Ca, Mn, and Ni) and organic metabolites (caffeine and polyphenols), respectively. Chemometric methods were applied to classify the origin based on the component. The proposed method was used to test samples collected from 10 mutually adjacent high-altitude villages in Mengku, Lincang, Yunnan, China. The developed user-friendly method was successfully used for the rapid evaluation of the composition, enabling the identification of the geographic origins of Pu-erh tea. Mn, caffeine, and polyphenols were found to be the key origin markers. Compared to principal component analysis, linear discriminant analysis models exhibited high discrimination performance with 100% predictive ability to distinguish the geographic origins of Pu-erh teas over a small production area. This rapid and simple method may be used to solve classification problems in tea quality control and management.