title: Investigation of free amino acid, total phenolics, antioxidant activity and purine alkaloids to assess the health properties of non-Camellia tea.
abstract: To find novel functional beverages from folk teas, 33 species of frequently used non-Camellia tea (plants other than Camellia) were collected and compared with Camellia tea (green tea, pu-erh tea and black tea) for the first time. Data are reported here on the quantities of 20 free amino acids (FAAs) and three purine alkaloids (measured by UHPLC), total polyphenols (measured by Folin-Ciocalteu assay), and antioxidant activity (DPPH). The total amounts of FAAs in non-Camellia tea (0.62-18.99 mg/g) are generally less than that of Camellia tea (16.55-24.99 mg/g). However, for certain FAAs, the quantities were much higher in some non-Camellia teas, such as γ-aminobutyric acid in teas from Ampelopsis grossedentata, Isodon serra and Hibiscus sabdariffa. Interestingly, theanine was detected in tea from Potentilla fruticosa (1.16±0.81 mg/g). Furthermore, the content of polyphenols in teas from A. grossedentata, Acer tataricum subsp. ginnala are significantly higher than those from Camellia tea; teas from I. serra, Pistacia chinensis and A. tataricum subsp. ginnala have remarkable antioxidant activities similar to the activities from green tea (44.23 μg/mL). Purine alkaloids (caffeine, theobromine and theophylline) were not detected in non-Camellia teas. The investigation suggest some non-Camellia teas may be great functional natural products with potential for prevention of chronic diseases and aging, by providing with abundant polyphenols, antioxidants and specific FAAs.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100193, China; Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Resources Utilization of Chinese Herbal Medicine, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Wu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100193, China; Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Resources Utilization of Chinese Herbal Medicine, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Chunnian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100193, China; Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Resources Utilization of Chinese Herbal Medicine, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Yunyun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100193, China; Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Resources Utilization of Chinese Herbal Medicine, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: PhytoMedix Co., Whippany, NJ 07981, USA.
authors.forename: Linghua Harris
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100193, China; Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Resources Utilization of Chinese Herbal Medicine, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100193, China; Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Resources Utilization of Chinese Herbal Medicine, Ministry of Education, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: Peigen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xiao
keywords: AABA, α-aminobutyric acid; AMQ, 6-aminoquinoline; AQC, 6-aminoquinolyl-N-hydrosysuccinimidyl carbamate; AccQ, 6-aminoquinolyl-N-hydroxysuccinimidyl carbamate; Amino acids; Antioxidant activity; DPPH, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl; EA, essential amino acid; EDTA, ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid; F-C, Folin-Ciocalteu; FAAs, free amino acids; GABA, γ-aminobutyric acid; GAE, gallic acid equivalents; HCA, hierarchical cluster analysis; HEA, half-essential amino acid; NEA, non-essential amino acid; Non-Camellia tea; PCA, principal component analysis; Polyphenols; Purine alkaloids; RSD, relative standard deviation; Thea, theanine; UHPLC, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography