Green Tea (Camellia sinensis): A Review of Its Phytochemistry,Pharmacology, and Toxicology

Objectives Green tea (Camellia sinensis) is a kind of unfermented tea that retains the natural substance in fresh leaves to a great extent. It is regarded as the second most popular drink in the world besides water. In this paper, the phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology of green tea are reviewed systematically and comprehensively. Key findings Green tea has been demonstrated to be good for human health. Nowadays, multiple pharmacologically active components have been isolated and identified from green tea, including tea polyphenols, alkaloids, amino acids, polysaccharides, and volatile components. Recent studies have demonstrated that green tea shows versatile pharmacological activities, such as antioxidant, anticancer, hypoglycemic, antibacterial, antiviral, and neuroprotective. Studies on the toxic effects of green tea extract and its main ingredients have also raised concerns including hepatotoxicity and DNA damage. Summary Green tea can be used to assist the treatment of diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, oral cancer, and dermatitis. Consequently, green tea has shown promising practical prospects in health care and disease prevention.     

Influencing Factors on the Physicochemical Characteristics of Tea Polysaccharides

Tea polysaccharides (TPSs) are one of the main bioactive constituents of tea with various biological activities such as hypoglycemic effect, antioxidant, antitumor, and immunomodulatory. The bioactivities of TPSs are directly associated with their structures such as chemical composition, molecular weight, glycosidic linkages, and conformation among others. To study the relationship between the structures of TPSs and their bioactivities, it is essential to elucidate the structure of TPSs, particularly the fine structures. Due to the vast variation nature of monosaccharide units and their connections, the structure of TPSs is extremely complex, which is also affected by several major factors including tea species, processing technologies of tea and isolation methods of TPSs. As a result of the complexity, there are few studies on their fine structures and chain conformation. In the present review, we aim to provide a detailed summary of the multiple factors influencing the characteristics of TPS chemical structures such as variations of tea species, degree of fermentation, and preparation methods among others as well as their applications. The main aspects of understanding the structural difference of TPSs and influencing factors are to assist the study of the structure and bioactivity relationship and ultimately, to control the production of the targeted TPSs with the most desired biological activity.     

高功率TEA CO2激光器两波长激光切换输出技术

以TEA CO2激光器通常采用的平-凹光学稳定腔为基础,提出了一种新的波长选支方法——输出窗口镀膜选支方法。利用一台高平均功率TEA CO2激光器进行了选支实验研究,结合现有光学镀膜技术,得到了中心波长为9.3 μm的激光单谱线输出,其单脉冲能量及平均功率与激光器原中心波长10.6 μm单谱线输出的相应参数基本相当。研究发现,以相同单脉冲能量激光照射热敏纸时,中心波长9.3 μm激光光斑与中心波长10.6 μm的明显不同。同时,还设计出两波长窗口密闭免调切换装置,在一台激光器上实现了10.6,9.3 μm两个中心波长激光同等功率水平的免调切换输出,切换位置误差小于5″,密封性能满足使用要求。     

Development and validation of a high‐throughput assay for the quantification of multiple green tea‐derived catechins in human plasma

A rapid, accurate and robust method for the determination of catechin (C), epicatechin (EC), gallocatechin (GC), epigallocatechin (EGC), catechin gallate (Cg), epicatechin gallate (ECg), gallocatechin gallate (GCg) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg) concentrations in human plasma has been developed. The method utilizes protein precipitation following enzyme hydrolysis, with chromatographic separation and detection using reversed‐phase liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). Traditional issues such as lengthy chromatographic runtimes, sample and extract stability, and lack of suitable internal standards have been addressed. The method has been evaluated using a comprehensive validation procedure, confirming linearity over appropriate concentration ranges, and inter/intra‐batch precision and accuracies within suitable thresholds (precisions within 13.8% and accuracies within 12.4%). Recoveries of analytes were found to be consistent between different matrix samples, compensated for using suitable internal markers and within the performance of the instrumentation used. Similarly, chromatographic interferences have been corrected using the internal markers selected. Stability of all analytes in matrix is demonstrated over 32 days and throughout extraction conditions. This method is suitable for high‐throughput sample analysis studies.     

Determination of the inhibitory effect of green tea extract on glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase based on multilayer capillary enzyme microreactor

Natural herbal medicines are an important source of enzyme inhibitors for the discovery of new drugs. A number of natural extracts such as green tea have been used in prevention and treatment of diseases due to their low‐cost, low toxicity and good performance. The present study reports an online assay of the activity and inhibition of the green tea extract of the Glucose 6‐phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) enzyme using multilayer capillary electrophoresis based immobilized enzyme microreactors (CE‐IMERs). The multilayer CE‐IMERs were produced with layer‐by‐layer electrostatic assembly, which can easily enhance the enzyme loading capacity of the microreactor. The activity of the G6PDH enzyme was determined and the enzyme inhibition by the inhibitors from green tea extract was investigated using online assay of the multilayer CE‐IMERs. The Michaelis constant (K_m) of the enzyme, the IC₅₀ and K_i values of the inhibitors were achieved and found to agree with those obtained using offline assays. The results show a competitive inhibition of green tea extract on the G6PDH enzyme. The present study provides an efficient and easy‐to‐operate approach for determining G6PDH enzyme reaction and the inhibition of green tea extract, which may be beneficial in research and the development of natural herbal medicines. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simultaneous analysis of tropane alkaloids in teas and herbal teas by liquid chromatography coupled to high‐resolution mass spectrometry (Orbitrap)

A new method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of 13 tropane alkaloids in tea and herbal teas using high‐performance liquid chromatography coupled to an Exactive‐Orbitrap analyzer. A mixture of methanol, water, and formic acid was used for the extraction of the target compounds followed by a solid‐phase extraction step. The validated method provided recoveries from 75 to 128% with intra‐ and interday precision lower than or equal to 24% (except for apoatropine). Limits of quantification ranged from 5 to 20 μg/kg. Eleven tea and herbal tea samples and two contaminated samples with Datura stramonium seeds were analyzed. Tropane alkaloids were detected in six samples with concentrations from 5 (apoatropine) to 4340 μg/kg (sum of physoperuvine, pseudotropine, and tropine), whereas concentrations from 5 (apoatropine) to 1725 μg/kg (sum of physoperuvine, pseudotropine, and tropine) were found in the contaminated samples.     

Greener approach for synthesis of monodispersed palladium nanoparticles using aqueous extract of green tea and their catalytic activity for the Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reaction and the reduction of nitroarenes

A facile and green route for the synthesis of palladium nanoparticles (NPs) was developed utilizing non‐toxic and renewable natural green tea extract as the reducing, stabilizing and capping agent. The as‐prepared Pd‐NPs@G.Tea extract was characterized using UV–visible spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, field‐emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy. The Pd‐NPs@G.Tea extract could be used as an efficient and heterogeneous catalyst for Suzuki coupling reactions between phenylboronic acid and a range of aryl halides containing iodo, bromo and chloro moieties, and also for the reduction of nitroarenes using sodium borohydride in an environmentally friendly medium. Excellent yields of products were obtained with a wide range of substrates and the catalyst was recycled multiple times without any significant loss of its catalytic activity.     

茶皂素―金属复合抗菌剂的制备及抗菌性能研究

通过抑菌环法探讨了茶皂素、金属离子、茶皂素―金属复合抗菌剂对大肠杆菌和金黄色葡萄球菌的抗菌活性,考察了茶皂素纯度、浓度、金属离子种类等因素对抗菌剂抗菌活性的影响。结果表明,茶皂素的抗菌活性与单一的金属离子的抗菌活性相当,茶皂素对大肠杆菌的最低抑制浓度为5 mg/mL,对金黄色葡萄球菌的最低抑制浓度是10 mg/mL;茶皂素与金属离子复配抗菌活性具有协同效应,尤其茶皂素―锌复合抗菌剂对大肠杆菌的抑制效果大大加强。     

Multiresidue method for the fast determination of pesticides in nutraceutical products (Camellia sinensis) by GC coupled to triple quadrupole MS

A method based on QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) has been developed and validated for the determination and quantification of more than 140 pesticides in nutraceutical products obtained from green tea (Camellia sinensis). Extraction was performed with acidified acetonitrile (acetic acid 1%, v/v) and a clean‐up step using primary secondary amine (50 mg), graphitized black carbon (100 mg) and magnesium sulfate (200 mg) was needed. Pesticide determination was achieved utilizing GC coupled to triple quadrupole MS/MS using the selective‐reaction monitoring mode. The total run time was 23 min. Pesticides were quantified using matrix‐matched calibration. Recoveries ranged from 70 to 120% and relative SD was lower than 25% at 10, 50, and 100 μg/kg. LOQs were lower than 10 μg/kg. 148 pesticides were validated. The validated method was applied to commercial nutraceutical products, detecting 4,4‐dichlorobenzophenone (28 μg/kg), o,p′‐dicofol (38 μg/kg) and p,p‐dicofol (44 μg/kg) in a few samples.