Abstract: Tea is one of the most consumed beverages throughout the world and is favored by people worldwide for its unique aroma as well as medicinal and health promoting properties. Increasing public awareness of nutrition and health has led to growing concerns about the quality and safety of tea. Extensive studies in this field have been carried out worldwide. Due to the multiplicity and complexity of tea matrices, the detection of nutrients and toxicants in tea is faced with numerous difficulties and challenges. Carbon nanotubes possess unique structures and excellent physicochemical properties, which have been widely applied in the detection of tea quality and safety in recent years. Herein, the types and traits of carbon nanotubes are described, and the recent progresses in the application of carbon nanotubes in tea quality and safety detection are also discussed. This review is expected to provide valuable information for future studies in this field.

Key words: carbon nanotubes, tea, quality, safety