Your new experience awaits. Try the new design now and help us make it even better

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Agron.

Sec. Agroecological Cropping Systems

Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fagro.2025.1654806

Improving tea quality and fruit yield through intercropping with climbing plants

Provisionally accepted
Qing  LiaoQing Liao1*Ying  XingYing Xing1Jin-Ping  ChenJin-Ping Chen1Hai-Fei  MouHai-Fei Mou1Qing-lan  TianQing-lan Tian1Lei  WangLei Wang2Li-Xia  GuoLi-Xia Guo3Pan-Xia  LiangPan-Xia Liang4Zhu-Sheng  LiuZhu-Sheng Liu2*
  • 1Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, China
  • 2Guangxi Tea Research Institute, Guilin, China
  • 3Guilin GFS Monk Fruit Biotechnology Co. Ltd., Guilin, China
  • 4Guangxi Agricultural Vocational University, Nanning, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Integrating high-value climbing fruit crops into tea (Camellia sinensis) systems offers potential to improve tea quality and diversify income, yet the density-dependent effects on both crops remain unquantified. This study evaluated tea intercropped with Siraitia grosvenorii (SG) and Passiflora edulis (PE) at three planting densities (low, medium, high), assessing tea leaf biochemical traits alongside fruit physical and intrinsic quality parameters. All intercropping treatments significantly increased tea leaf chlorophyll a, b, and total chlorophyll content compared with monoculture (CK), with maxima in PE-H (1.188, 0.447, and 1.635 mg/g) and SG-H (1.166, 0.425, and 1.591 mg/g), respectively. Tea polyphenol content decreased with increasing density, most notably in PE-H (−21.63% vs. CK), while free amino acids increased under SG-M (+20.50%) and PE-L (+19.10%). The polyphenol-to-amino acid ratio declined across treatments, with the largest reductions in PE-L (−24.36%) and SG-M (−19.62%). Water extract content rose in all intercropped systems, peaking in SG-H (+5.82%) and PE-H (+2.12%). For S. grosvenorii, SG-H achieved the highest single-fruit weight (94.37 g), transverse diameter (54.56 mm), proportion of medium/large fruits (94.58%), and sugar contents (reducing sugar 6.69%, total sugar 12.01%). For P. edulis, PE-H produced the highest soluble solids (17.82%), soluble sugars (12.27%), solid-acid ratio (6.72), and sugar-acid ratio (4.62), indicating superior flavor, whereas PE-M maximized titratable acids (2.74%) and peel thickness (5.16 mm), and PE-L yielded the highest edible ratio (46.68%). This work provides density-resolved evidence that tea-climbing plant intercropping can simultaneously enhance tea leaf quality, and improve fruit sweetness and flavor profiles. Optimal densities vary by species, offering a dual-quality, agroecologically viable model for tea-based polyculture.

Keywords: Camellia sinensis, Siraitia grosvenorii (luohan guo), Passiflora edulis (passion fruit), planting density, Chlorophyll

Received: 27 Jun 2025; Accepted: 19 Aug 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Liao, Xing, Chen, Mou, Tian, Wang, Guo, Liang and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Qing Liao, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, China
Zhu-Sheng Liu, Guangxi Tea Research Institute, Guilin, China

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.