Green Tea Catechins: Nature’s Way of Preventing and Treating Cancer

Green tea’s (Camellia sinensis) anticancer and anti-inflammatory effects are well-known. Catechins are the most effective antioxidants among the physiologically active compounds found in Camellia sinesis. Recent research demonstrates that the number of hydroxyl groups and the presence of specific structural groups have a substantial impact on the antioxidant activity of catechins. Unfermented green tea is the finest source of these chemicals. Catechins have the ability to effectively neutralize reactive oxygen species. The catechin derivatives of green tea include epicatechin (EC), epigallocatechin (EGC), epicatechin gallate (ECG) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG has the greatest anti-inflammatory and anticancer potential. Notably, catechins in green tea have been explored for their ability to prevent a variety of cancers. Literature evidence, based on epidemiological and laboratory studies, indicates that green tea catechins have certain properties that can serve as the basis for their consideration as lead molecules in the synthesis of novel anticancer drugs and for further exploration of their role as pharmacologically active natural adjuvants to standard chemotherapeutics. The various sections of the article will focus on how catechins affect the survival, proliferation, invasion, angiogenesis, and metastasis of tumors by modulating cellular pathways.     

茶树花多酚儿茶素单体分离纯化研究

茶树花多酚样品先经葡聚糖凝胶Sephadex LH-20柱层析预分离,脱除咖啡碱等杂质,并将儿茶素分为八个流分,再用硅胶柱分离纯化,得到四种儿茶素的单体化合物。HPLC测定四种单体儿茶素化合物的纯度,EC纯度98.9%、ECG纯度96.8%、EGCG纯度98.6%、GCG纯度97.1%。     

Long‐term impact of nitrogen and potassium fertilizers on yield,soil nutrients and biochemical parameters of tea

A field experiment was conducted with tea cultivar UPASI‐9 over a period of 9 years to evaluate the long‐term effects of nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) fertilizers on yield, biochemical parameters, soil and leaf nutrient status. The yield increase was as high as 66% over the control for N application of 450 kg ha^?1 year^?1. Polyphenol and amino acid contents increased with increase in K application rate. Positive and significant correlation was found between nitrate reductase activity and the amino acid content of the tea shoots. While ammoniacal nitrogen in the soil was not affected by the application of fertilizer, ammonium acetate extractable K increased. The failure to apply fertilizer resulted in depletion of the organic matter status of the soil. Although increased rate of nitrogen application increased the overall yield of made tea (kg ha^?1 year^?1), the specific yield (kg kg^?1 N) declined. The soil tended to become acidic from frequent application of high doses of nitrogenous fertilizer. The leaf NK status was significantly influenced by the various treatments. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Diversity among various forms of catechins and its synthesizing enzyme (phenylalanine ammonia lyase) in relation to quality of black tea (Camellia spp.)

BACKGROUND: Quality of tea depends on the cultivar and climatic conditions. Biochemical pathways within the plant and climatic factors can result in noticeable changes in chemical composition, which determine the quality of tea. Black tea quality attributes are influenced by various forms of catechins, namely gallated, non‐gallated, dihydroxylated and trihydroxylated catechins and their ratios. Hence the variations in grouped catechins and their synthesizing enzyme in relation to quality of south Indian black tea grown in different seasons and different cultivars were studied. RESULTS: Gallated, non‐gallated, dihydroxylated, trihydroxylated catechins and catechin index were significantly higher in crop shoots harvested during summer. A significant and wide diversity in various forms of catechins was noticed among the cultivars tested. Among the cultivars, UPASI‐3 registered the higher amount of various forms of catechins and activity of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), followed by UPASI‐9 and UPASI‐17 respectively, while the lowest amount was exhibited by ‘Assam’ seedlings and TRI‐2043. CONCLUSION: Overall quality as evaluated by tea tasters was positively correlated to the cultivars and seasons tested. This positive correlation can be attributed to higher levels of grouped catechins and PAL activity. Thus the contents of various forms of catechins could be the most important quality parameter of the south Indian black teas. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry     

UPLC-MS-MS同时测定茶油中8种儿茶素类物质

利用超高效液相色谱-串联质谱建立了一种可以同时检测茶油8种儿茶素类物质的分析方法。使用Waters T3 C18色谱柱(250mm×4.6mm,5μm),以0.1%(V/V)甲酸水溶液和甲醇和为流动相进行梯度洗脱,正扫描方式下多反应监测(MRM)模式测定。在优化的条件下,8种儿茶素类物质线性关系良好(r~2=0.9966～0.9995),方法检出限为0.2～1.1μg/L。在不同浓度水平的添加平均加标回收率为76.4.%～93.4%之间,相对标准偏差3.0%～8.9%。应用本方法可以检测出茶油中儿茶素(C)、表儿茶素表儿茶素(EC)、表没食子儿茶素(EGC)、表儿茶素没食子酸酯(ECG)、表没食子儿茶素没食子酸酯(EGCG)等的含量。结果表明,茶油中表没食子儿茶素没食子酸酯(EGCG)、表没食子儿茶素(EGC)、表儿茶素没食子酸酯(ECG)的含量相对较高。本方法结果准确可靠,方法快速,简单易行,可为茶油中儿茶素类物质的检测提供参考。     

Using Defatted Rice Bran as a Bioadsorbent for Carrying Tea Catechins

The potential of rice bran as a bioabsorbent for tea catechins was examined. Defatted rice bran had the highest adsorption capacity for tea catechins and the best selectivity for (‐)‐epigallocatechin gallate over total catechins among water‐washed rice bran and untreated rice bran. The adsorption characteristics of tea catechins onto defatted rice bran were determined over a range of concentration (0.5 to 2.5 g/L) and temperatures (10, 25, and 45 °C). The adsorption of tea catechins onto defatted rice bran showed excellent fitness with the pseudo‐second‐order model at different temperature. Both the Langmuir and Freundlich models adequately describe the isothermal adsorption of tea catechins onto defatted rice bran. The adsorption of total catechins on rice bran decreased from 10 to 25 °C, whereas was greatly enhanced at 45 °C. The adsorption system of bioadsorbent with multiconstituents may not be as simple as the single‐force‐driving adsorption system. Protein and cellulose are the main contributors to the adsorption of tea catechins on defatted rice bran.     

Chemical analysis and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory effect of anthocyanin-rich red leaf tea (cv. Sunrouge)

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of leaf order or crop season on anthocyanins and other chemicals in the anthocyanin‐rich tea cultivar ‘Sunrouge’ (Camellia sinensis x C. taliensis) by using high‐performance liquid chromatography, and to study the effect of ‘Sunrouge’ extract on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in human neuroblastoma SK‐N‐SH cells. RESULTS: The total anthocyanin content was higher in the third (3.09 mg g^?1) than in the second (2.24 mg g^?1) or first crop season (1.79 mg g^?1). The amount of anthocyanins contained in the stem was high (1.61 mg g^?1). In the third crop season, the concentrations of delphinidin‐3‐O‐β‐D ‐(6‐(E)‐p‐coumaroyl)galactopyranoside (DCGa), cyanidin‐3‐O‐β‐D ‐(6‐(E)‐p‐coumaroyl)galactopyranoside, delphinidin‐3‐O‐β‐D ‐galactopyranoside, delphinidin‐3‐O‐β‐D ‐(6‐O‐(Z)‐p‐coumaroyl)galactopyranoside, cyanidin‐3‐O‐β‐D ‐galactoside, and delphinidin‐3‐O‐β‐D ‐glucoside were 1.57 mg g^?1, 0.52 mg g^?1, 0.40 mg g^?1, 0.22 mg g^?1, 0.14 mg g^?1, and 0.11 mg g^?1, respectively. DCGa accounted for about 50% of the anthocyanins present. The suppressive effect of ‘Sunrouge’ water extract on AChE activity in human neuroblastoma SK‐N‐SH cells was the strongest among the three tea cultivars (‘Sunrouge’, ‘Yabukita’ and ‘Benifuuki’). CONCLUSION: These results suggested that ‘Sunrouge’ might protect humans from humans from AChE‐related diseases by suppressing AChE activity. To obtain sufficient amounts of anthocyanins, catechins and/or caffeine for a functional food material, ‘Sunrouge’ from the third crop season should be used. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Comparison of a pair of synthetic tea-catechin-derived epimers: synthesis, antifolate activity, and tyrosinase-mediated activation in melanoma

Despite bioavailability issues, tea catechins have emerged as promising chemopreventive agents because of their efficacy in various animal models. We synthesized two catechin-derived compounds, 3-O-(3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoyl)-(-)-catechin (TMCG) and 3-O-(3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoyl)-(-)-epicatechin (TMECG), in an attempt to improve the stability and cellular absorption of tea polyphenols. The antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic activities of both compounds were analyzed with various cancer cell systems, and TMCG, which was easily synthesized in excellent yield, was more active than TMECG in both melanoma and non-melanoma cell lines. TMCG was also a better inhibitor of dihydrofolate reductase and was more efficiently oxidized by tyrosinase, potentially explaining the difference in activity between these epimers.     

不同类型白茶儿茶素、香气成分与感官品质比较

白茶是我国特有的一种微发酵茶,为探明不同类型白茶的品质差异,本研究选取了白毫银针、白牡丹、贡眉、寿眉、新工艺白茶共10个白茶样品,分别进行了高效液相色谱(HPLC)检测儿茶素、气相色谱-质谱(GC-MS)检测香气成分以及感官评价,并结合方差分析和OPLS-DA等多元统计学分析。结果表明,不同类型白茶中儿茶素含量差异较大,贡眉的总儿茶素含量最高,寿眉最低,分别为66.84和32.66 mg/g,并且所有白茶共检测到50种香气物质,主要香气组分有正己醛、(E)-2-己烯醛、苯甲醛、芳樟醇及其氧化物(I、II)等。白毫银针、白牡丹、贡眉、寿眉等4种传统工艺白茶的香气组成和含量与新工艺白茶有明显差异,其中,(E)-2-戊烯醛、2-庚酮等8种香气成分在4种传统工艺白茶中大量存在,而在新工艺白茶中未检测出。通过多组分化学计量学分析发现,白毫银针、白牡丹、贡眉与新工艺白茶的儿茶素和香气代谢物存在显著差异,而寿眉与新工艺白茶相差不大。本研究初步探明了不同类型白茶的品质差异,为白茶风味品质调控提供理论依据。     

反相高效液相色谱法测定桃金娘果酒中5种 酚类物质的含量

目的建立反相高效液相色谱法测定桃金娘果酒中原儿茶酸、儿茶素、咖啡酸、阿魏酸和白藜芦醇5种酚类物质的含量。方法以乙酸乙酯为萃取溶剂对桃金娘果酒中的酚类物质进行萃取,采用Phenemenex C_(18)(4.6 mm×250 mm,5μm)反相色谱柱分离,以0.4%甲酸-甲醇为流动相进行梯度洗脱,流速为1.0 mL/min,柱温为30℃。采用紫外检测器检测,检测波长为280 nrm。结果原儿茶酸、儿茶素、咖啡酸、阿魏酸、白藜芦醇在0.012~0.20 mg/mL范围内均呈良好线性关系(r≥0.9993),加标回收率在98.9%~100.9%范围,相对标准偏差小于2.10%。结论该方法操作简单,灵敏度高,可适用于桃金娘果酒中5种酚类物质的含量测定。