Investigation of major phenolic antioxidants from Camellia sinensis fruits

Ajay Rana,Harsh Pratap Singh,Ashu Gulati,George Weaver

doi:10.1080/23312009.2015.1080652

Abstract

AbstractThe present study unveils major phenolic antioxidant compounds from Camellia sinensis fruits, followed by their investigation, purification and characterization using HPLC, ESI-MS and NMR studies. The spectrophotometric estimation results have clearly demonstrated that C. sinensis (tea) fruits contain up to 14% of total polyphenols (as gallic acid equivalent) and 7% of flavonoids (as quercetin equivalent) on dry weight basis. Differential solvent-mediated extractions have been performed for quantitative assessment of major phytoconstituents by RP-HPLC analysis. And the results have revealed that these fruits contain adequate amount of tea catechins (4%) along with caffeine (1%) and theanine (0.4%) on dry weight basis. Moreover, purification and characterization of major phytoconstituents such as epigallocatechin, epicatechin, epigallocatechin gallate and epicatechin gallate along with caffeine have been accomplished. Thus, it is clearly demonstrated that tea fruits could act as a possible and reli...

Highlights

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is a well-known plant, whose fresh leaves are processed for manufacturing various types of tea: green, black, oolong and white
Result and discussion Tea is an excellent source of phenolic antioxidant compounds which mainly comprise a group of monomeric flavonoids called catechins
The total phenolics in tea fruit extract were recorded as 14.2% gallic acid equivalent on dry weight basis (Figure 1(a))

Summary

Introduction

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is a well-known plant, whose fresh leaves are processed for manufacturing various types of tea: green, black, oolong and white. We have explored the major bioactive constituents of green tea fruits. The main endeavour of the present study was to investigate the phenolic antioxidant compounds from underutilized tea fruits along with their purification and characterization using HPLC, LC-MS and NMR techniques.

Results

Conclusion