Effects of aqueous brewing solution pH on the extraction of the major green tea constituents

Quan V. Vuong, John B. Golding, Costas E. Stathopoulos, Paul D. Roach

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The pH of the aqueous brewing solution was maintained at values ranging from 1 to 9 during the green tea extraction and the effects on the tea's extracted constituents were studied. The epistructured catechins were stable under acidic conditions but epimerized or degraded at pH. ≥. 6. The extractable solids contained more epistructured catechins at pHs 3-5 but more non-epistructured catechins at pHs 6-7. More tea cream was obtained at pH 1 but the concentration of catechins, caffeine and theanine was low in this fraction. Therefore, to maximize the extraction of the epistructured catechins and to minimize their epimerization and degradation and to maximize the extraction of caffeine and theanine, the results suggest that the pH should be maintained between 3 and 5.3 during the aqueous brewing process.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)713-719
Number of pages7
JournalFood Research International
Volume53
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Caffeine
  • Catechins
  • Green tea
  • PH
  • Theanine

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Food Science

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