Objective   Correlation between the nutrients and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in soil and the quality of tea produced at a plantation shaded from direct sun exposure in summer was analyzed.

  Method  The nutrients, fungal diversity, and tea quality at a hilly tea plantation in Zhejiang Province were determined for a correlation study on the effect of summer-shading over the tea bushes.

  Result  The shading significantly increased the pH, organic matters, total nitrogen, alkali-hydrolyzed nitrogen, total phosphorus, and available phosphorus in the plantation soil by 15.38%, 17.8%, 163.6%, 77.86%, 45.45%, and 27.80%, respectively. On the other hand, it reduced the fungal diversity index and richness. The DGGE band-sequencing analysis showed that the dominant fungi in the non-shaded control soil was Glomus, which was lower in abundance under the shading. The shading increased the contents of total chlorophyll, amino acids, and caffeine in tea leaves by 46.18%, 33.16%, and 32.30 %, respectively, but that of polyphenols declined by 10.41% over control. The tea quality was judged to be superior with the shading treatment.

  Conclusion   Shading in summer increased soil nutrient contents and improved tea quality, but reduced the diversity and richness of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in the plantation soil.