Profiling elements in Puerh tea from Yunnan province, China

Puerh tea, as the most representative Chinese dark tea, has attracted global interest in recent years. Profiling the levels of metal elements in Puerh tea is very important since its presence is related to human health. In this study, 41 elements in 98 Puerh tea samples from Yunnan province, China including Puerh raw tea and Puerh ripe tea were evaluated by microwave digestion combined with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry . The content of toxic elements, essential elements and rare earth elements of Puerh tea from different regions was discussed in detail. The concentrations of Ba, Cr, As, Pb, Bi, Fe, Zn, V, Mn, Be, Ag and Tl showed significant differences (p < 0.05) by ANOVA analysis. Principal component analysis and linear discriminant analysis were used to describe the relationship of Puerh tea from different regions. This study provided a comprehensive database for Puerh tea quality control and intake risk assessment.