Polyphenols of tea. IV.—Qualitative and quantitative study of the polyphenols of different organs and some cultivated varieties of tea plant

Abstract

Abstract A method is described for the estimation of individual polyphenols of tea leaf. Polyphenols separated by two‐way paper chromatography of a methanolic extract of the material were located under ultra‐violet light. The excised spots were eluted with water and estimated from extinctions at 275 nm. Three of the polyphenols, (−)‐epigallocatechin gallate, (−)‐epigallocatechin and (−)‐epicatechin gallate, which comprise 10‐19% of the dry matter of tea shoots from Assam, are partly consumed during the manufacture of black tea. Seasonal variation in the polyphenolic content of some jats and clones grown in North East India are described. The phenolic content of the tea shoots was higher during rains. Changes in the phenolic pattern during the growth and development of tea flower, fruit and seed are described. Organs of tea, such as sepals, petals and pericarp with closer morphological affinities to the leaf, showed a greater degree of similarity in their phenolic pattern compared with other organs such as stigma, style, carpel, anther and testa. The gallates were mostly confined to the chlorophyll‐bearing organs.