Effect of pruned material,extracts, and polyphenols of tea on enzyme activities and microbial community structure in soil

Pruning is a regular management practice performed in tea fields, but its effects on soil properties and microbial community structures have not been well explored. Effects of tea pruned material, tea extracts, and tea polyphenols application on soil properties and microbial characteristics, including pH, soil enzyme activities, culturable microbial population, and bacterial community, were investigated in a pot-incubation experiment lasting for 10 weeks. Results indicated that returning of tea pruned material or its extracts significantly increased the soil pH as compared to control. The soil invertase and urease activities, as well as the culturable microbial population treated with pruned material were much higher than those in control, while polyphenol oxidase activity was similar among different treatments. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of bacterial community indicated that the Shannon’s diversity index (H) of all nine treatments receiving additives slightly decreased as compared to control. Pruning returning specifically induced several beneficial bacterial species, including Brevibacterium sp. and Burkholderia sp. In conclusion, pruning returning alleviated soil acidification, induced soil enzyme activities, stimulated culturable microbial population, and reshaped the microbial community. This research suggests that this management could be applied as an alternative agricultural practice in tea cultivation.