Brewing Chamira Dilanka Fernando1,2 and Preethi Soysa1*
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Fernando and Soysa Nutrition Journal (2015) 14:74 DOI 10.1186/s12937-015-0060-x RESEARCH Open Access Extraction Kinetics of phytochemicals and antioxidant activity during black tea (Camellia sinensis L.) brewing Chamira Dilanka Fernando1,2 and Preethi Soysa1* Abstract Background: Tea is the most consumed beverage in the world which is second only to water. Tea contains a broad spectrum of active ingredients which are responsible for its health benefits. The composition of constituents extracted to the tea brew depends on the method of preparation for its consumption. The objective of this study was to investigate the extraction kinetics of phenolic compounds, gallic acid, caffeine and catechins and the variation of antioxidant activity with time after tea brew is made. Methods: CTC (Crush, Tear, Curl) tea manufactured in Sri Lanka was used in this study. Tea brew was prepared according to the traditional method by adding boiling water to tea leaves. The samples were collected at different time intervals. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined using Folin ciocalteu and aluminium chloride methods respectively. Gallic acid, caffeine, epicatechin, epigallocatechin gallate were quantified by HPLC/UV method. Antioxidant activity was evaluated by DPPH radical scavenging and Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) assays. Results: Gallic acid, caffeine and catechins were extracted within a very short period. The maximum extractable polyphenols and flavanoids were achieved at 6–8 min after the tea brew is prepared. Polyphenols, flavanoids and epigallocatechin gallate showed a significant correlation (p < 0.001) with the antioxidant activity of tea. Conclusion: The optimum time needed to release tea constituents from CTC tea leaves is 2–8minafterteais made. Keywords: Camellia sinensis L, Black tea, Brewing time, Extraction kinetics Background constituents such as vitamin C, vitamin E, carotenoids, Oxidation is an essential biological process for energy flavonoids, catechins, anthocyanins, etc. [2]. production reactions in living organisms. However, ex- Tea is the most consumed beverage in the world only cessive in vivo production of reactive oxygen species second to water. CTC (Crush, Tear, Curl) tea is manu- (ROS) leads to oxidative damage in lipids, protein and factured in Sri Lanka from the two leaves and the bud DNA. Oxidative damages cause the risk of development and young leaves of the shrub Camellia sinensis (L.) of neuro degeneration, mutagenesis, carcinogenesis, cor- Kuntze (family: Theaceae) [3]. The estimated amount of onary heart disease, diabetes and cellular ageing [1]. 18–20 billion tea cups consumed daily worldwide elicits Recently an increasing number of scientific publications its economic and social interest [4]. Most of the tea pro- suggest that certain edible plants may offer protection or duced worldwide is black tea, which represents 76–78 % treatment against some chronic diseases. In general, these of the tea produced and consumed worldwide [5]. The beneficial effects can be attributed to their antioxidant production of black tea involves allowing tea leaves to wither where the moisture content of the leaves is reduced followed by rolling and crushing to initiate * Correspondence: [email protected] 1Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, fermentation [6]. University of Colombo, Kynsey Road, Colombo 08, Sri Lanka Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © 2015 Fernando and Soysa. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. Fernando and Soysa Nutrition Journal (2015) 14:74 Page 2 of 7 The chemical composition of tea includes polyphenols, and pour boiling water over the leaves. After a couple of alkaloids (caffeine and theobromine), amino acids (mainly minutes the leaves are usually removed and the infusion L-theanine), carbohydrates, proteins, chlorophyll, volatile is consumed. The extractable phytochemicals associate compounds, minerals (aluminium, manganese and fluoride) with the health benefits and their levels depend on the and other unidentified compounds. Among these, polyphe- method of tea preparation for its consumption. There- nols are one of the main bioactive compounds in tea [7]. fore, this study aims to evaluate the kinetics of solid The major polyphenolic compounds in tea are the flavan-3- liquid extraction of polyphenols, flavonoids, gallic acid, ols (catechins) which include: (−)-epicatechin (EC), (−)-epi- caffeine, epicatechin and epigallocatechin gallate in tea gallocatechin (EGC), (−)-epicatechin gallate (ECG), (−)-epi- infusion made with CTC tea. gallocatechingallate (EGCG), (−)-gallocatechins (GC) and (−)-gallocatechin gallate (GCG) [8]. During the manufac- Methods turing process of black tea, the colourless catechins present Reagents and chemicals in fresh tea leaves are oxidized both enzymatically and HPLC grade acetonitrile was purchased from BDH (BDH nonenzymatically to give two major groups of pigments: Chemicals Ltd. Poole, England). β-hydroxyethyltheophy theaflavins and thearubigins which are responsible for the lline, caffeine, gallic acid, epicatechin, (−)-epigallocatechin colour and sensory properties of black tea brew [9]. The fla- gallate, Folin Ciocalteu reagent, 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhy- vonoids and other polyphenols present in tea have shown a drazyl (DPPH) and aluminium chloride were purchased wide range of biological and pharmaceutical benefits, in- from Sigma Chemicals, USA. Sodium nitrite was purchased cluding prevention of cancer [10], obesity [11], type 2 from Riedel De Haen Ag, Wunstorfer Strasse 40, SEELZE1, diabetes [12], depressive symptoms [13] cardiovascular D3016, Germany. Crush, Tear, Curl (CTC) low grown pure diseases and cerebral ischemic damage [14]. Further tea Ceylon black tea was obtained from Danduwangalawatta possesses insulin-enhancing [15], antioxidative [16], hypo- Tea factory, Millawitiya, Kuruwita, Sri Lanka. lipidemic [17], antimicrobial [18], immune-stimulatory [19], anti-inflammatory [20], neuroprotective [21] and bone mineralization enhancement activities [22]. These beneficial Equipment effects may be attributed to antioxidant activity possessed Shimadzu UV-1601 UV Visible spectrophotometer by the polyphenolic compounds in tea [7]. Gallic acid has (Shimadzu Corporation, Japan) was used to read the ab- proven its cytotoxic activity against cancer cell lines sorbance. HPLC was performed with Shimadzu LC 10AS [23]. Epidemiological studies have found a positive as- solvent delivery system equipped with UV/VIS variable sociation between dietary flavonoid intake and overall wavelength detector Shimadzu SPD 10A (Shimadzu Cor- good health [24]. poration, Japan) and an integrator Shimadzu C-R8A Stirring and steeping conditions such as time and (Shimadzu Corporation, Japan). Chromatographic reso- temperature are critical factors for extraction of cate- lution of components in tea was achieved on betasil chins or theaflavins from teas [25]. The traditional phenyl HPLC column (2.1 x 150 mm) from Thermo method of making a cup of tea in some countries includ- scientific. Samples were injected with a syringe loading ing Sri Lanka is to place loose leaves directly into a pot injector fitted with a 100 μl loop. AB Fig. 1 Correlation between t/C and extraction time for polyphenols and flavonoids (a) and correlation between t/C and extraction time for gallic acid, caffeine and epigallocatechin gallate (b) Fernando and Soysa Nutrition Journal (2015) 14:74 Page 3 of 7 Table 1 Kinetic parameters for the extraction of nutraceuticals supernatant was assayed for their phenolic and flavonoid from tea infusion content by spectrophotometry. Gallic acid, caffeine, epi- −1 −1 C∞ (mg/g) C20 (mg/g) (observed) k1 (g mg min ) catechin and epigallocatechin gallate were quantified by GA 8.0 ± 1.2 7.6 ± 1.9 7.8 x10−2 ± 0.2 x10−2 Reversed Phase High Pressure Liquid Chromatography Caffeine 42.2 ± 2.7 42.1 ± 1.9 4.1 x10−3 ± 0.3 x10−3 (RP-HPLC). Antioxidant activity was assayed by DPPH − − radical scavenging and Ferric reducing Antioxidant Power EGCG 11.8 ± 0.4 11.2 ± 1.1 1.4 x10 2 ± 0.8 x10 2 (FRAP) methods. Polyphenols 131 ± 8a 124 ± 6a 2.4 x10−2 ± 0.7 x10−2 b b −4 −4 Flavanoids 322 ± 22 310 ± 26 5.8 x10 ± 0.1x10 Determination of phenolic content aConcentration is expressed in mg/g GAE and bConcentration is expressed in Total phenolic content was determined by Folin Ciocal- mg/g EGCG equivalents teu method [26]. Samples (25 μl) were diluted up to (C∞ = the extraction capacity, C20 = the concentration of the tea constituent in th the solution at 20 minute, k1 = the second-order extraction rate constant) 1500 μl with deionized water. Folin Ciocalteu’s reagent (1 N, 250 μl) was added to the samples (500 μl), and the Shimadzu Libror AEG-220 analytical balance (Shimadzu mixture was allowed to stand at room temperature for Corporation, Japan) was used to prepare standard solu- 2 min. Sodium carbonate solution (10 %, 1.25 ml) was tions. Purified deionized water was obtained from Lab- then added and incubated for 45 min in the dark at conco Water Pro-PS UV ultra filtered water system room temperature.