Abstract
Chlorophylls and concomitant pigments along with catechins were analysed in shoots from various Tocklai released clones with pronounced genetic variation and in the corresponding orthodox black teas. Comparison of these values with tasters' score showed that the shade of colour of an orthodox black tea is influenced mostly by pheophytin and thearubigins. The degradation of chlorophyll into pheophytin and pheophorbide was also studied in orthodox and crush ‐ tear ‐ curl (CTC) teas. The observations indicated that both pheophytin and pheophorbide are always higher in orthodox than in CTC teas made from the same leaf source.