School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle, Ourimbah, NSW, Australia.
J Sep Sci. 2010 Nov;33(21):3415-28. doi: 10.1002/jssc.201000438.
Tea is a major source of catechins, which have become well known for their antioxidant potential. Numerous human, animal, and in vitro studies have linked tea catechins with prevention of certain types of cancers, reduction of the risks for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, and improvement of the immune system. Tea catechins are widely used in various neutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics for either enhancing product shelf-life or for enhancing human health. Thus, the demand for catechins has increased considerably. Catechins have been extracted and isolated from tea leaves by numerous methods through several steps including: treatment of the tea leaves, extraction of catechins from teas into solvents, isolation of catechins from other extracted components, and drying the preparations to obtain catechin extracts in a powder form. This paper outlines the physical and chemical properties of the tea catechins and reviews the extraction steps of the various extraction methods, as a basis to improve and further develop the extraction and isolation of the tea catechins.
茶是儿茶素的主要来源，儿茶素因其抗氧化潜力而广为人知。大量的人体、动物和体外研究表明，茶儿茶素可预防某些类型的癌症，降低肥胖、糖尿病和心血管疾病的风险，并改善免疫系统。儿茶素广泛应用于各种营养保健品、药品和化妆品中，以延长产品的保质期或增强人类健康。因此，儿茶素的需求大幅增加。儿茶素已通过多种方法从茶叶中提取和分离出来，经过多个步骤，包括：茶叶处理、儿茶素从茶中提取到溶剂中、儿茶素与其他提取成分分离，以及干燥制剂以获得儿茶素提取物的粉末形式。本文概述了茶儿茶素的物理和化学性质，并综述了各种提取方法的提取步骤，为改进和进一步开发茶儿茶素的提取和分离提供了基础。
