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Catechin Content of 18 Teas and a Green Tea Extract Supplement
Correlates With the Antioxidant Capacity
Susanne M. Henning, Claudia Fajardo-Lira, Hyun W. Lee, Arthur A. Youssefian,
Vay L. W. Go, and David Heber
Abstract: Our literature review of currently available data in
the area of tea and cancer prevention demonstrated that
there is more conclusive evidence for the chemopreventive ef-
fect of green tea compared with black tea. We suggest that
this is due to a large variation of the flavanol content in tea,
which is not taken into consideration in most of the epidemio-
logical studies. It was the purpose of this study to determine
the flavanol content of various teas and tea products and to
correlate it with their radical scavenging activity. A modified
oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay at pH 5.5
was utilized. The total flavavol content varied from 21.2 to
103.2 mg/g for regular teas and from 4.6 to 39.0 mg/g for de-
caffeinated teas. The ORAC value varied from 728 to 1686
trolox equivalents/g tea for regular teas and from 507 to 845
trolox equivalents/g for decaffeinated teas. There was a sig-
nificant correlation of flavanol content to ORAC value (r=
0.79, P= 0.0001) for the teas and green tea extract. The large
variation in flavanol content and ORAC value among vari-
ous brands and types of tea provides critical information for
investigators using tea in studies of nutrition and cancer pre-
vention.
Introduction
Tea is one of the most popular beverages in the world and
is consumed by over two-thirds of the world’s population.
Tea ( Camellia sinensis) is manufactured as black (78%),
green (20%), or oolong tea (2%). The consumption of tea has
been associated with anticarcinogenic, antimutagenic, and
cardioprotective effects based on experimental studies using
cell culture and animal models. Epidemiological studies,
however, are not as conclusive (Table 1). The consumption of
tea has been associated with a decreased risk of developing
cancer of the stomach, colorectum, esophagus, lung, and
prostate as well as a decreased risk of atrophic gastritis, coro-
nary heart disease, and incidence of stroke in some studies
(1). Other studies, however, do not support the protective ef-
fect of tea against cancer (Table 1). Based on a summary in-
cluding epidemiological studies with more than 200 cases
(Table 1) we concluded that there is stronger evidence for the
chemopreventive potential of green tea in Asian countries,
whereas studies of the chemopreventive effect of black tea in
smaller quantities are less convincing (Table 1).
The biological benefits of tea are due to their flavanol con-
tent. Tea flavanols are a group of natural polyphenols found
in green and black tea. Four flavanol derivatives are found in
tea: (–)-epicatechin (EC), (–)-epigallocatechin (EGC), EC
gallate (ECG), and EGC gallate (EGCG) (Fig. 1). Their bio-
logical benefits are due to their strong antioxidant and
anti-angiogenic activity as well as their potential to inhibit
cell proliferation and modulate carcinogen metabolism (1).
Flavanols account for 6–16% of the dry green tea leaves
(2). During the manufacturing process of black and oolong
teas, tea leaves are crushed to allow polyphenol oxidase to
catalyze the oxidation and polymerization of flavanols to
polymers called theaflavins (2–6%) and thearubigins (20%)
(3). These polymers contribute to the characteristic bright or-
ange-red color of black tea. Three to 10% of the flavanols re-
main in black tea. The major fraction of black tea
polyphenols is composed of high molecular weight com-
pounds called thearubigins, which have been poorly charac-
terized thus far (4).
Tea is usually prepared by infusing green or black tea
leaves in hot water. A typical cup of tea in Western society is
prepared by brewing one tea bag (1.8–2.4 g tea) in 200–250
ml of hot water for 3–5 min. Decaffeinated green tea extract
dietary supplements are also available to provide the con-
sumer with a convenient way to benefit from the health bene-
fits of tea flavanols without ingesting caffeine.
Chen et al. demonstrated that the flavanols in tea drinks are
stable in aqueous solutions with low pH (5). Even after a 7-h
brew at 98°C, only 20% of the green tea flavanols degraded.
Previous measurements of the antioxidant capacity of foods
and beverages have been performed using the classical oxygen
radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay with a phosphate
buffer pH 7 (6). Because most flavanols are unstable at pH 7,
the results from the classical ORAC assay may have underesti-
NUTRITION AND CANCER, 45(2), 226–235
Copyright © 2003, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
S. M. Henning, C. Fajardo-Lira, H. W. Lee, A. A. Youssefian, V. L. W.Go, and D. Heber are affiliated with the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, 900 Veteran
Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90095.
Vol. 45, No. 2 227
Table 1. Tea consumption and Cancer
Ref. Intervention/Location of Study Cancer Site/Outcome No. of Cases/Controls
Beneficial effects of tea consumption against cancer
7 10 cups green tea, Japan Delay in onset in all sites RR = 0.57 384/8,552
8 Green tea in female, nonsmoker, China Lung cancer RR = 0.65 649/675
9 >2 cups of black tea, male nonsmoker, Uruguay Lung cancer RR = 0.34 427/428
10 10 cups of Okinawa tea, Japan Lung cancer RR = 0.38 333/666
11 Green tea consumption, China Stomach cancer RR = 0.53 and chronic gastritis RR =
0.49
299/433
12 >7 cups of green tea, Japan Stomach cancer RR = 0.69 1706/21,128
13 300 g/mo of tea, China Colon, rectum, and pancreas, RR = 0.82, 0.72, 0.63 931,884,451/1,552
14 >2 cups of tea/day, postmenopausal women, Iowa Digestive and urinary tract, RR = 0.68, 0.4 2,936/35,369
15 Green tea, China Stomach cancer, RR = 0.71 711/711
16 Green tea, Shanghai, China Esophageal cancer, RR = 0.43 734/1,552
17 >5 cups, Japan Recurrence of breast cancer stage I and II, R = 0.56 472/8,552
18 >10 cups of green tea Chronic atrophic gastritis, R = 0.64 636/—
19 Green tea, China Gastric cancer 272/544
20 >1 cup hot tea, Arizona Squamous cell carcinoma RR = 0.63 234/216
21 3–4 cups tea, The Netherlands Bladder cancer RR = 0.8 569/3,123
22 Green tea, China Stomach cancer RR = 0.77 1,124/1451
No association of tea consumption with cancer
23 >5 cups of green tea, Japan Gastric cancer, R = 1.1 419/26,311
24 >5 cups of black tea, The Netherlands Breast, colorectal, stomach, and lung cancer 2,264/121,043
25 2–3 cups of black tea, Sweden Breast cancer, R = 1.1 1,271/59,036
26 >5 cups of green tea, Japan Cancer of all sites 4,069/38,540
27 Meta-analysis, 37 studies Urinary tract cancer
28 >4 cups of tea, Canada Prostate cancer 1,623/1,623
29 >2 cups of tea, postmenopausal women, Iowa Cancer of the colon and rectum 685/2,434
30 Tea, Italy Cancer of the oral cavity, esophagus, stomach, bladder,
kidney, and prostate
6,277/6,147
31 >2.6 cups tea, Iowa Bladder and kidney cancer 1,452,406/2,434
32 Black tea, Sweden Colon cancer 460/61,463
33 Tea, Canada Bladder, colon, and rectal cancer 927,991,825/2118
34 >4 cups of tea, Italy Ovarian cancer 1,031/2,411
35 >1 cup of tea, Italy Cancer of the colon and rectum 3,530/7,057
14 >2 cups of tea, postmenopausal women, Iowa Melanoma, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, cancer of the
pancreas, lung, breast, uterine corps, and ovaries
6,277/35,369
Figure 1. Chemical structures of EC, ECG EGC, EGCG, theaflavin, theaflavin-3-monogallate, theaflavin-3′-monogallate, and theaflavin-3,3′-digallate.
mated the antioxidant capacity of the flavanols.The purpose of
this study was to measure the flavanol and theaflavin content
of various green tea, black tea, iced tea beverages, and one
green tea extract supplement. In addition, the ORAC values of
these teas and tea products were measured using a modified
ORAC assay at pH 5.5 and correlated to the flavanol and
theaflavin content of the teas and green tea supplement.
Results of this study provide important data for epidemio-
logical studies by demonstrating the importance of collecting
more detailed information about the type of tea (decaffein-
ated or regular, black or green). The results also will assist
consumers to choose the tea product that provides the most
health benefits.
Materials and Methods
Chemicals
β-Phycoerythrin (β-PE) from porphyridium cruentum,
gallic acid, (–)-catechin, (–)-catechin gallate, EC, EGC,
ECG, (–)-gallocatechin gallate, EGCG, caffeine, and a
theaflavin mixture called black tea extract containing four
theaflavins were purchased from Sigma (St. Louis, MO).
2,2′-Azobis(2-amidinopropane) dihydrochloride (AAPH)
was purchased from Wako Chemicals, Inc. (Richmond,
VA). 6-Hydroxy-2,5,7,8-tetramethylchroman-2-carboxylic
acid (Trolox) was obtained from Aldrich (Milwaukee, WI).
HPLC solvents were purchased from Fisher Scientific
(Pittsburgh, PA).
Teas
Eighteen different green and black tea bags and two brands
of iced tea were purchased in local supermarkets. Pharmanex
generously provided the green tea extract supplement.
Sample Preparation
Tea leaves from each tea bag (1.5–2.4 g) were removed,
weighed, and used for tea brewing in 100 ml boiling
deionized water for 3 min. Tea brews were filtered through a
coffee filter to remove tea leaves. The catechin content of the
filtered tea brews was analyzed by high-performance liquid
chromatography (HPLC), and aliquots were frozen at –20°C
for ORAC analysis. Tea brews prepared to test the difference
in flavanol content among different lots of Uncle Lee’s Green
Tea, Lipton Green Tea, and Bigelow Darjeeling Blend were
brewed for 5 min. The flavanol content of Tegreen capsules
was analyzed by dissolving one capsule in 100 ml of boiling
water. Aliquots were frozen at –20°C and analyzed by
HPLC. All determinations were performed in duplicates.
pH Stability Test
Flavanol stock solutions (6 mM) were prepared in metha-
nol and stored at –70ºC. Twenty- to 60-fold dilutions were
prepared in phosphate buffers (0.5 M), pH 3–7, at room tem-
perature. Samples were placed into the autosampler
immediately, and their flavanol concentrations were deter-
mined using HPLC analysis.
ORAC Assay
The ORAC assay was performed as described by Cao and
Prior (6) except that a sodium acetate buffer (75 mM, pH 5.5)
was used to prevent degradation of the flavanols. In the final
mixture of 0.2 ml, β-PE (3.39 mg/l) was used as a target of
free radical attack and AAPH (8 mM) was used as a peroxyl
radical generator at 37°C. Trolox (10 µM) was used as a stan-
dard control. The decrease of PE fluorescence was deter-
mined by reading the fluorescence (excitation 535 nm, emis-
sion 595 nm) every 2 min for 70 min in a Perkin Elmer HTS
BioAssay Reader (Norwalk, CT). The ORAC value was eval-
uated as an area under curve (AUC) and calculated by taking
into account the Trolox reading using the following equation:
(AUCsample –AUC
buffer)/(AUCTrolox –AUC
buffer) × dilution
factor of sample × initial Trolox concentration (µM). Brewed
tea was diluted 1:250 with sodium acetate buffer (75 mM, pH
5.5) and flavanol and other flavonoid standard solutions were
prepared in methanol (3 mM) and diluted 1:150 to 1:600 in
the same buffer. Tea samples were analyzed in triplicate and
flavanol standards were measured in six replicates.
HPLC Tea Flavanol Analysis
After mixing the brewed tea with mobile phase 1:1 v/v
and filtering the mix through a 0.2-µm PVDF acrodisc sy-
ringe filter (Gelman, Ann Arbor, MI), tea flavanols were ana-
lyzed by HPLC. Filter discs were washed with 200 µl metha-
nol and the wash solution was also analyzed for flavanols by
HPLC. The flavanol content eluted from the filter disc was
added to the data from the tea analyses. The flavanol analysis
was performed by HPLC with a Waters NovaPak C18 (150 ×
3.9 mm, 4 µm) HPLC column and an Alltech Macrosphere
RP 300 C18 5U guard column. Mobile phase A was com-
posed of acetonitrile and mobile phase B was composed of
960 ml 0.1% acetic acid (pH 3.5) + 20 ml acetonitrile + 20 ml
tetrahydrofuran. Flavanols were eluted with the following
gradient: at time 0 min, 100% B; at time 45 min, 40% B; and
at time 47 min, 100% B. The equilibration period was 8 min.
An Agilent Technologies (San Diego, CA) 1050 HPLC sys-
tem was used with a Shimadzu (Cole Scientific Inc.,
Moorpark, CA) SPD-6AV, UV-VIS spectrophotometer (260
nm). Peak areas were integrated using the Agilent Technol-
ogies 2D ChemStation Rev. A.0701. Final concentrations
were calculated in comparison with a known standard re-
sponse.
Statistical Analysis
For each tea analysis, two samples were analyzed and the
mean values obtained. ORAC values were determined in six
replicates and mean values obtained. The Pearson correlation
228 Nutrition and Cancer 2003
coefficient for the tea flavanol content and ORAC values was
analyzed with the SAS program.
Results
Tea Flavanol Content
The four most common flavanols in green and black tea
are EGCG, EGC, EC, and ECG (Figs. 1 and 2). The flavanol,
gallic acid, and caffeine content of the teas, tea beverages,
and green tea extract supplement are shown in Table 2. The
green tea flavanol content ranged from 59.3 to 103.2 mg/g tea
in regular teas and from 26.7 to 52.2 mg/g in decaffeinated
teas. The flavanol content of regular black tea varied from
21.2 to 68.3 mg/g tea and from 4.6 to 5.4 mg/g decaffeinated
tea (Table 2). The tea content per tea bag ranged from 1.6 to
2.4 g of tea per tea bag. Black tea contained less flavanols
than green tea due to the fermentation process that generates
the epicatechin polymers known as theaflavins and
thearubigins and their gallate derivatives (Fig. 1). The
theaflavin content of regular black tea varied from 3.5 to 8.3
mg/g tea for regular teas and from 0.9 to 1.2 mg/g decaffein-
ated black tea. In general, decaffeinated teas contained less
flavanols and theaflavins compared with regular teas. The
flavanol content of the green tea extract supplement was
equivalent to the flavanol content of one cup of the green tea
with the highest flavanol content. Iced tea beverages did not
contain any flavanols (Table 2a). Variations of flavanol con-
tent in tea bags from different lots purchased at different
times and different stores (Table 3) were smaller compared
with differences in teas from different brands (Table 2a,b).
Flavanol pH Stability
The stability of flavanols in different conditions such as
pH and temperature is an important factor to consider in the
determination of their biological activity. As shown in Figs. 3
and 4, the pH stability varies among different flavanols. At
pH 7, catechin, epicatechin, and ECG are still relatively sta-
ble, whereas EGC, EGCG, and GCG are completely de-
graded (Fig. 3). After 2 h at pH 7 only 34% of EGC and 61%
of EGCG remained (Fig. 4). After 7 h at pH 7 EGC and
EGCG were completely degraded. This shows the impor-
tance of performing the measurements of the antioxidant ca-
pacity at a lower pH where all the flavanols are stable.
ORAC Values of Individual Flavanols and
Flavonoids
The intra-assay coefficient of variation (CV) in the ORAC
assay was 0.9–3.7% for buffer and 1.3–3.2% for the Trolox
standard. The interassay CV was 8.0% for buffer and 5.4%
for the Trolox standard. The ORAC values of the individual
flavanol standard solutions as determined with the modified
ORAC assay are shown in Table 4. If expressed in Trolox
equivalents/µmol flavanol the following order of antioxidant
capacity was observed: ECG > EGCG > EC = catechin >
EGC > mixed theaflavins > gallic acid. To validate the modi-
fied ORAC assay, the ORAC values of ascorbic acid and
other flavonoids such as quercetin, kaempherol, and
naringenin were determined (1.2, 6.7, 2.6, and 2.4 µmol
TE/µmol). The ORAC values of these antioxidants were con-
sistent with the data from other investigators (9).
ORAC Values of Individual Teas and Tea
Products
The ORAC values of the individual teas and tea products
were also determined with the modified ORAC assay. The
standard and samples were diluted with the 75-mM sodium
acetate buffer (pH 5.5). ORAC values varied from 728 to
1,372 Trolox equivalents/g tea for regular black tea and
507–618 for decaffeinated black tea. Regular green tea
ORAC values varied from 1,239 to 1,686 trolox equiva-
lents/g tea, and the ORAC values for decaffeinated green tea
varied from 765 to 845 trolox equivalents/g tea (Table 5). Fig.
5 shows the correlation between the ORAC value and the
catechin content of individual teas with r= 0.79 (P= 0.0001).
The ORAC value of the green tea extract supplement was
higher than all the green or black tea brews, whereas the iced
teas showed the lowest ORAC values (Table 5).
Discussion
The antioxidant capacity of polyphenols in vivo is due to
several factors: 1) radical scavenging activity, 2) metal
ion-chelating effect, 3) stability of the resulting radical
formed after scavenging, 4) pH sensitivity, and 5) solubility
in the lipophilic phase (36). As shown by Van Acker et al.
(37), the free radical scavenging activity is related to the elec-
trochemical oxidation potential of the flavonoids. Flavonoids
with the lowest electrochemical potential showed a high radi-
cal scavenging activity (36). Measurements of the struc-
ture-activity relationship by other investigators (36,37)
showed that the radical scavenging activity is highest in
flavonoids with either a catechol or pyrogallol group in the B
ring. The additional double bond between C2-C3 and the
3-OH group enhanced the scavenging activity. The metal
ion-chelating activity also depended on the catechol structure
as well as the hydroxyl group in position 3 (36). In addition,
Cao et al. (36) pointed out that an increase in the number of
OH substitutions in the A- and B-ring corresponded to a
stronger antioxidant response as determined by the ORAC
assay.
The ORAC assay provides an effective way to evaluate the
potential antioxidant capacity of various phytochemicals,
foods, beverages, or biological samples (38). The assay used
in this study measures the capacity of individual compounds
or mixtures of compounds to scavenge the peroxyl radicals
generated from AAPH at an elevated temperature. The order
of antioxidant capacity for the different catechin standard so-
lutions was ECG > EGCG > EC = catechin > EGC > mixed
Vol. 45, No. 2 229
230 Nutrition and Cancer 2003
Figure 2. HPLC chromatograms of (A) catechin and caffeine standard mixture, (B) Uncle Lee’s Green Tea, and (C) theaflavin standard mixture.
Vol. 45, No. 2 231
Table 2a. Determination of Catechin Content of 11 Black Teas and 2 Iced Teasa
Tea Catechin
Wissotzky
Earl Grey
Bigelow
Constant
Comment
Bigelow
English
Teatime
Twinings
English
Breakfast Tea
Bigelow
Darjeling
Blend
Twinings Irish
Breakfast
Black Tea
Lipton
Black Tea
Twinings
Earl Grey
Black Tea
Sweet Touch
NEE Black
Tea
Bigelow
Constant
Comment Decaf
Bigelow
English Tea
Time Decaf
Lipton
Lemon
Iced Tea
Snapple
Peach Iced
Tea
mg/100 ml (= teabag)
Gallic acid 3.3 ± 0.7 3.1 ± 0.1 6.8 ± 0.1 4.5 ± 0.4 6.4 ± 0.1 5.6 ± 0.1 6.5 ± 0.1 5.6 ± 0.2 5.6 ± 0.5 3.0 ± 0.1 4.6 ± 0.2 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0
Caffeine 27.1 ± 5.1 25.3 ± 0.2 51.6 ± 1.3 45.4 ± 1.7 55.1 ± 0.1 39.4 ± 4.4 36.2 ± 1.6 31.5 ± 0.8 38.1 ± 2.3 2.7 ± 0.1 3.4 ± 0.2 2.0 ± 0 6.5 ± 0
EGC 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0 14.8 ± 0.3 0.0 ± 0 11.6 ± 1.0 23.5 ± 10.3 6.2 ± 0.9 4.1 ± 2.1 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0
Catechin 8.1 ± 2.0 7.2 ± 0 15.4 ± 0.6 13.1 ± 1.9 16.2 ± 0.1 3.5 ± 0.5 2.7 ± 0.3 4.4 ± 0.8 12.1 ± 0.9 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0
Epicatechin 2.9 ± 0.2 4.1 ± 0.1 9.0 ± 0.1 5.2 ± 0.2 5.6 ± 0.2 2.3 ± 0 5.3 ± 0.4 5.2 ± 0.3 1.1 ± 0.3 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0
EGCG 3.8 ± 1.0 6.8 ± 0 27.3 ± 0.6 10.9 ± 0.6 74.5 ± 0.8 8.1 ± 2.6 8.9 ± 0.6 10.8 ± 0.5 9.4 ± 0.6 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0
GCG 2.3 ± 0.8 3.0 ± 0 2.9 ± 0.1 2.0 ± 0 8.7 ± 0.3 4.8 ± 1.9 4.2 ± 0.5 2.6 ± 0.7 3.6 ± 0.6 2.0 ± 0.2 2.4 ± 0.1 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0
ECG 2.0 ± 0.5 2.7 ± 0.2 9.4 ± 0.2 4.8 ± 0.3 21.3 ± 1.2 3.8 ± 2.0 4.5 ± 0.1 5.4 ± 0.5 1.4 ± 1.7 2.0 ± 0.2 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0
Catechin gallate 3.1 ± 0.7 2.3 ± 0 2.8 ± 0 4.3 ± 0.2 4.3 ± 0 3.3 ± 0.4 3.0 ± 0 1.5 ± 0 3.7 ± 0.2 0.5 ± 0.7 1.2 ± 0.1 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0
Total theaflavin 13.3 ± 4.3 9.0 ± 0.2 10.9 ± 0.7 20.1 ± 3.5 8.8 ± 0.2 10.2 ± 1.3 14.2 ± 1.0 7.3 ± 0 18.1 ± 1.1 2.2 ± 0.3 2.0 ± 0.1 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0
Total catechin 20.4 ± 3.3 26.0 ± 0.4 81.6 ± 1.9 40.4 ± 0.7 148.7 ± 0.8 49.3 ± 2.9 34.8 ± 1.9 32.6 ± 3.1 31.2 ± 1.0 4.6 ± 0.3 3.6 ± 0.2 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0
Total catechin +
theaflavins + gallic
acid
38.8 ± 9.8 38.1 ± 0.3 99.4 ± 2.7 65.0 ± 2.4 163.9 ± 0.6 65.2 ± 1.5 55.5 ± 2.8 45.6 ± 3.3 54.8 ± 2.5 9.8 ± 0.1 10.1 ± 0.5 0.0 ± 0 0.0 ± 0
Total catechin +
theaflavins + gallic
acid/g tea
24.3 ± 6.1 21.2 ± 0.2 43.2 ± 1.2 31.0 ± 1.2 68.3 ± 0.2 31.0 ± 0.7 23.1 ± 1.2 21.7 ± 1.6 23.8 ± 1.1 5.4 ± 0.03 4.6 ± 0.2 n/a n/a
a: n =2.
232 Nutrition and Cancer 2003
Table 2b. Determination of Catechin Content of 8 Green Teas and 1 Green Tea Extract Supplementa
Tea Catechin
Bigelow
Green Tea
Celestial
Seasoning
Green Tea
Uncle Lee’s
Green Tea
Salada
Green Tea
Earl Green
Lipton
Green Tea
Stash Premium
Green Tea
Decaf
Salada
Green Tea
Decaf
Celestial
Seasoning Decaf
Green Tea
Green Tea
Supplement
Green Tea
Supplement
mg/100 ml per capsulebper g powder
Gallic acid 1.5 ± 0.1 0.6 ± 0 1.0 ± 0.1 0.8 ± 0.1 1.2 ± 0 0.7 ± 0.1 2.0 ± 0 1.8 ± 0.1 9.6 ± 0.5 27.4 ± 1.4
Caffeine 23.6 ± 1.5 33.6 ± 0.2 29.4 ± 2.7 21.8 ± 1.8 33.1 ± 0.7 5.8 ± 0.6 3.8 ± 0 0.7 ± 0 5.7 ± 0.2 16.3 ± 0.6
EGC 30.9 ± 1.5 79.7 ± 1.0 49.2 ± 2.3 38.7 ± 2.9 76.4 ± 1.8 22.0 ± 1.5 23.8 ± 0.3 22.2 ± 0.4 7.6 ± 1.5 21.7 ± 4.3
Catechin 0.0 ± 0 4.4 ± 0.1 3.6 ± 0.5 0.0 ± 0 5.8 ± 0.9 0.0 ± 0 3.4 ± 0.5 0.0 ± 0 4.7 ± 0.1 13.4 ± 0.3
Epicatechin 6.5 ± 0.4 13.3 ± 0.1 15.4 ± 1.2 7.0 ± 0.6 11.9 ± 0.1 0.0 ± 0 4.1 ± 0 2.9 ± 0 6.9 ± 0.3 19.7 ± 0.9
EGCG 42.5 ± 2.5 99.3 ± 1.8 65.0 ± 7.1 49.8 ± 3.6 83.9 ± 2.8 20.7 ± 1.8 46.3 ± 0.7 37.7 ± 0.8 100.5 ± 3.4 285.1 ± 9.7
GCG 4.1 ± 0.2 5.4 ± 0.3 4.3 ± 0.4 3.1 ± 0.3 1.1 ± 0.1 3.6 ± 0.6 6.2 ± 0.1 3.4 ± 0 52.8 ± 2.2 150.9 ± 6.3
ECG 3.6 ± 0 4.0 ± 1.6 15.9 ± 1.5 9.5 ± 0.8 13.7 ± 0.3 6.1 ± 0.6 2.0 ± 0.1 5.2 ± 0.3 25.2 ± 0.8 72.0 ± 2.3
Catechin gallate 0.0 ± 0 10.0 ± 1.2 2.4 ± 0.2 0.3 ± 0.5 3.1 ± 0.1 0.4 ± 0.5 1.1 ± 0 0.9 ± 0 7.7 ± 0.2 22.0 ± 0.6
Total catechin 87.5 ± 4.6 216.2 ± 0.5 155.7 ± 13.2 108.5 ± 8.6 196.6 ± 5.2 52.7 ± 5.0 86.8 ± 0.7 72.3 ± 0.7 205.4 ± 5.5 584.8 ± 15.7
Total catechin +
gallic acid
89.0 ± 4.6 216.7 ± 0.5 156.8 ± 13.3 109.3 ± 8.7 197.8 ± 5.2 53.3 ± 5.0 88.8 ± 0.7 74.1 ± 0.6 214.9 ± 6.0 612.2 ± 17.1
Total catechin +
gallic acid/g
tea
59.3 ± 3.1 103.2 ± 0.3 78.4 ± 6.6 60.7 ± 4.8 82.4 ± 2.2 26.7 ± 2.5 52.2 ± 0.4 39.0 ± 0.3
a: n =2.
b: 350 mg teasolids per capsule.
theaflavins > gallic acid. This is in good agreement with the
structure-activity analysis by Van Acker et al. and Cao et al.
(36,37) and with results by Salah et al. (39). The results from
our study, however, indicate that epicatechin and catechin
have a stronger radical scavenging potential than EGC and
gallic acid. This is possibly due to the pH stability of
epicatechin and catechin. As shown in Fig. 3, catechin and
epicatechin are more stable in the pH range from 5 to 7 than
EGC and gallic acid. The antioxidant capacity of theaflavins
and their gallate esters has also been evaluated by Miller et al.
(40) and Leung et al. (41). In these studies, however, the anti-
oxidant capacity was measured via Cu2+-mediated LDL oxi-
dation, which is an indication of the metal ion-chelating ca-
pacity rather than their radical scavenging activity. In our
study, the black tea extract theaflavin mix purchased from
Sigma was ranked low compared with the other flavanols.
Due to the lack of purified individual theaflavin standards,
we were unable to determine the ORAC value for individual
theaflavins.
The tea flavanol analysis (Tables 2a and b) showed large
variations among teas from different brands. This variation
was larger than the standard deviation of flavanol concentra-
tions determined in teas of the same brand but different lot
numbers (Table 3). Therefore, we concluded that the differ-
ence among brands (Tables 2a and b) is due to different pro-
duction conditions and technologies of the tea companies
rather than differences in production lots, shelf life, and stor-
age conditions. The flavanol contents determined in our anal-
yses compared well with flavanol contents published by
Khokhar and Magnusdottir (47). They also found that
Darjeeling tea contained a large amount of flavanols com-
pared with other black teas.
Vol. 45, No. 2 233
Table 3. Catechin Content in Tea With Different Lot
Numbersa
Tea Catechin
Uncle Lee’s Green
Tea
Lipton Green
Tea
Bigelow
Darjeeling
Blend
Gallic acid 1.0 ± 0.2 1.3 ± 0.61 6.2 ± 0.4
Caffeine 46.5 ± 3.2 29.0 ± 2.4 67.0 ± 3.9
EGC 79.8 ± 14.5 80.2 ± 6.2 16.8 ± 0.9
Catechin 4.5 ± 1.6 4.9 ± 1.7 4.3 ± 0.4
Epicatechin 18.9 ± 0.9 16.3 ± 1.7 5.1 ± 0.4
EGCG 97.2 ± 13.0 83.3 ± 14.9 96.0 ± 7.2
GCG 7.6 ± 1.6 3.3 ± 0.9 8.0 ± 0.4
ECG 19.4 ± 3.4 10.5 ± 3.2 21.7 ± 1.6
Total catechins 230.4 ± 28.9 201.4 ± 27.2 151.9 ± 10.5
a: n = 2.
Figure 3. HPLC peak area of gallic acid, EGC, EC, EGCG, and ECG ex-
posed to pH 3–7.
Figure 4. Kinetic change of HPLC peak area of EGC, EC, EGCG, and ECG
at pH 7.
Table 4. ORAC Value of Different Catechins and
Flavonoidsa
Catechins ORAC (mmol /mmol) ORAC (mmol /mg)
Gallic acid 2.7 15.9
Epigallocatechin 4.6 15.0
Epicatechin 6.7 23.1
Catechin 6.1 21.0
Epicatechin gallate 10.4 23.5
Gallocatechin gallate 6.4 14.0
Epigallocatechin gallate 8.2 17.9
Quercetin 6.7 22.2
Kaempherol 2.6 9.1
Naringenin 2.4 8.8
Ascorbic acid 1.2 6.8
Caffeine 0.4 2.1
a: ORAC values are expressed as means of two determinations.
The ORAC values of the individual teas, determined in
this study, are similar to the values obtained by Cao et al.
(38). The regression analysis of the ORAC value in relation
to the flavanol content of the individual teas demonstrated
that the flavanol content is responsible to a large extent for
the antioxidant capacity of tea. However, there are other fac-
tors such as the thearubigin and rutin content that can explain
the relatively high ORAC value of some black teas with low
flavanol and theaflavin content. Iced teas also represented an
exception with a zero flavanol content but an ORAC value of
790 and 609 µmol/100 ml of tea. This antioxidant capacity is
most likely due to other food additives with antioxidant activ-
ity in the iced tea beverages.
The large variation in flavanol content and ORAC value
among different teas may be an important factor responsible
for the inconsistency of epidemiological studies in regard to
cancer prevention (Table 1). It appears that most reports sup-
porting the cancer prevention effects of tea were performed
in Asian countries where green tea is predominantly con-
sumed (42). In studies conducted in European countries,
where the consumption of black tea is more common, a pro-
tective effect was less frequently observed (43). The ORAC
values and flavanol contents of the individual teas deter-
mined in our study support this observation. Black teas, espe-
cially decaffeinated teas, show a much larger variability in
catechin content and ORAC value compared with green teas.
Because epidemiological studies to this day do not account
for the type and flavonoid content of different teas in their as-
sessment of tea consumption, the outcome may differ
depending on the characteristics of the particular teas con-
sumed. More studies like the Arizona study are needed, in
which tea consumption and the tea preparation were care-
fully evaluated using a detailed tea questionnaire. In this
study a chemopreventive effect of the consumption of >1cup
of hot tea in squamous cell carcinoma was determined (20).
Our results confirm that the ORAC value is a good in vitro
indicator of the antioxidant capacity of purified compounds
and beverages. However, for the in vivo evaluation, the ab-
sorption and metabolism of flavanols have to be taken into
consideration (44–46).
Acknowledgments and Notes
This study was supported by NIH Grants No. 5P50AT00151,
CA91163-01, and RO3 CA91163-02. We thank He-Jing Wang for perform-
ing the statistical analysis. Address correspondence to Susanne M. Henning,
UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, School of Medicine, Warren Hall,
14-166, 900 Veteran Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095. Phone: (310)
825-9345. FAX: (310) 206-5264. E-mail: shenning@mednet.ucla.edu.
Submitted 15 October 2002; accepted in final form 12 February 2003.
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