Abstract: In order to find out the pattern of changes in the contents of the major components during the growth of loquat sprouts and its influence on the tea making suitability of loquat leaves, the major components of loquat leaves were determined regularly during two growing seasons: spring and summer, and the tea processing suitability of new leaves of different lengths collected in summer was analyzed comparatively. The results showed that the contents of flavonoids, total phenols and triterpenoid acids in new leaves decreased gradually during both growing seasons, while the content of total soluble sugar increased first and then decreased. In general, the contents of the main components in summer leaves were higher than in spring leaves. The contents of flavonoids, total phenols, triterpenoid acids, phenolic monomers and antioxidant activities of loquat leaves decreased significantly with the increase in leaf length, and so did the contents of vitamin C and free amino acids in the water extract of leaves, whereas the content of soluble total sugar increased first and then decreased. The results showed that loquat leaves can be processed into tea, and the quality of tea made from leaves between 2 and 13 cm long is the best.

Key words: loquat leaves; growing period; main components; tea making suitability