Abstract
Catechins (flavan-3-ols) are polyphenolic plant secondary metabolites that have been strongly associated with a wide variety of beneficial health effects in vitro, in vivo and clinically. This study reports findings on the content of catechins in tea seed oil (TSO) extracted by Soxhlet extraction from seeds of different clones of Kenyan tea. Extraction of catechins from the crude oils was achie- ved by sequential liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) using methanol and quantified by reverse phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC). Results obtained revealed that all the crude test oils contained catechins, with oils extracted from clones TRFK K-Purple and GW-Ejulu having the highest total catechin content of 9.8 ± 0.25 and 9.0 ± 0.83 (×10−3% flavonoids) respectively. Statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) were evident in the total catechin contents of crude oils extracted from tea seeds with those extracted from corn, sunflower and soybean seeds. More- over, clonal variations were evident, as the total catechin contents of oils extracted from clones TRFK K-Purple and GW-Ejulu were statistically different (p < 0.05) from those extracted from clones TRFK 301/3, TRFK 301/4, TRFK 301/5, TRFK 306, TRFK 91/1 and TRFCA SFS 150. Thus, the cur- rent findings strongly suggest that oils from seeds of Kenyan tea cultivars can be a potential source of potent natural antioxidants. * Corresponding author.
Highlights
The tea plant is mainly cultivated for its prolific vegetative growth [1] from which different types of tea products have been processed viz., white [2] green [3], oolong and black tea [4]-[6]
The current research seeks to quantify the total catechin content in tea seed oil (TSO) extracted from seeds of selected Kenyan tea clones, with the expectation that findings from the research will immensely contribute to the development of diversified products from the tea plant, enhancing sustainability and profitability of the local tea industry
The catechins content in the methanolic extracts of the crude oils were quantitatively estimated by Reverse Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC). 1.0 mL of the methanolic extract was accurately transferred into a clean and dry graduated sample tube and diluted to 5.0 mL with a stabilizing solution constituting of 10% v/v acetonitrile, 500 μg∙mL−1 ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and 10 mg∙mL−1 ascorbic acid in the ratio 2:1:1, diluted five times
Summary
The tea plant is mainly cultivated for its prolific vegetative growth [1] from which different types of tea products have been processed viz., white [2] green [3], oolong and black tea [4]-[6]. The need for researchers and tea industry stakeholders in Kenya to exploit TSO as an avenue to ease on the current dwindling returns to tea farmers resulting from global overproduction of black tea is the need of the day. With this in mind, the current research seeks to quantify the total catechin content in TSO extracted from seeds of selected Kenyan tea clones, with the expectation that findings from the research will immensely contribute to the development of diversified products from the tea plant, enhancing sustainability and profitability of the local tea industry
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