Abstract:
Tea made from tender shoots of Camellia sinensis (L). O. Kuntze is the most
consumed beverage in the world next to water due to its unique taste, aroma,
and beneficial health properties. Tea has the potential to function as an
antioxidant due to the various forms of catechins and their derivatives.
Caffeine is an important secondary metabolite found in tea. The chemical
composition of tea varies and largely depends on climatic conditions,
genotype, horticultural practices, soil, growth altitude, plucking season,
sorting, grading, processing, extraction, storage, and drying. The objective
of the current study was to determine the amount of catechin and caffeine
content in freeze-dried leaves from fifteen distinct tea cultivars grown in
identical agronomic and environmental conditions. The catechin, epicatechin
(EC), epicatechin gallate (ECG), epigallocatechin (EGC), epigallocatechin
gallate (EGCG), caffeine, and gallic acid of 15 tea cultivars were analyzed
by using High Performance Liquid Chromatography according to ISO
14502–2:2005 method. TRI 3055 had the highest catechin content (21.45%)
and EGCG content (13.671%) of the 15 cultivars. The most common
individual catechin present in all tea cultivars is EGCG content. Out of 15
cultivars, TRI 4052 had the highest caffeine content (3.476%). TRI 3055
might be used in upcoming breeding projects because of its high catechin
content.
