Drought stress (DS) is the most important abiotic stress affecting yield and quality of tea worldwide. DS causes oxidative stress to cells due to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). As non-enzymatic antioxidants, tea catechins can scavenge excess ROS in response to DS. Further, catechin accumulation contributes to the formation of oxidative polymerization products (e.g., theaflavins and thearubigins) that improve the quality of black tea. However, there are no systematic reports on the response of tea catechins to DS. Here, we reviewed the available literature on the response of...
