A comprehensive study on the physio-chemical responses of camellia plants to abiotic stresses

Abstract

Camellia species, being a woody perennial with more than 100 years of life span, it experiences several abiotic stresses throughout its life. Conventional breeding is protracted and restricted principally to selection, which escorts to taper down of its genetic base. Predominantly being strict monoculture cultivation, the plants countenance pest populations that are dreadful and unique. Young leaves are economically important parts and abiotic stresses are extremely detrimental to production. For instance, drought alone accounts for 40% loss of yield of tea per annum. Despite constraints, commendable efforts have been perpetrated to appreciate the physiological as well as biochemical alterations of an assortment of abiotic stresses encountered by these plants. Thus, this review presents a consolidated account of the accomplishment and inadequacy of these tools and techniques hitherto applied to the plants. Expectedly, this will form a foundation for making further advances intended for improvement of tea and other economically important wild relatives, in particular, belongs to Camellia sp. To the best of our understanding, this is the first comprehensive compilation of such study in Camellia species with particular reference to tea [Camellia sinensis L. (O) Kuntze].