Distribution of Aluminum and Fluoride in Tea Plant and Soil of Tea Garden in Central and Southwest China

Key words: 
• tea garden soil /
• tea plant /
• aluminum /
• fluoride

Abstract: The distribution of Al and F contents and the relationship between Al and F in tea plants and soils of 12 tea gardens in Central and Southwest China were investigated from October 31 to November 14, 2006. The results show that there were differences in pH, CEC, the contents of organic matter (OM), Al and F in the different soils of the tea gardens. The Al content ranged from 1196 to 7976mg/kg for old leaf, 370 to 2681mg/kg for young leaf and 285 to 525mg/kg for stem, whereas the content of F ranged from 221 to 1504mg/kg for old leaf, 49 to 602mg/kg for young leaf and 13.5 to 77.5mg/kg for stem. The concentrations of labile Al varied obviously in the different soils, but the distribution law of labile Al content for the same garden was Al_exchangeable≈Al_{Fe-Mn oxide}>Al_organic>Al_{water-soluble}. The contents of different labile F fractions varied slightly in the different soils and the different soil layers, though the exchangeable F content was lowest among the labile F in the soils. The concentrations of Al and F in tea plants increased with increasing amount of water-soluble Al or F, especially the amount of water-soluble fractions in the soil layer of 0–20cm.The correlation between Al content and F content in the tea leaf was more significant than that in the tea stem. Furthermore, the correlation between Al content and F content in whole tea plant was strongly significant (r=0.8763, p<0.01, n=36). There were evident tendency that Al concentration increased with the increase of F concentration in different soil layers. The correlation of water-soluble Al with water-soluble F in all soils was also strongly significant (r=0.7029, p<0.01, n=34). The results may provide a proof that Al and F are jointly taken up by tea plants to some extent in natural tea gardens.