Catechins in green tea powder (matcha) are heat-stable scavengers of acrolein, a lipid peroxide-derived reactive carbonyl species.

Lipid peroxidation-derived reactive carbonyl species (RCS) such as acrolein and 4-hydroxynonenal pose health risks. We characterized the RCS-scavenging reactions of tea catechins in an aqueous solution and in baked cake. Acrolein's reaction with each of the major tea catechins (epicatechin, epigallocatechin, epicatechin gallate, and epigallocatechin gallate) resulted in the formation of mono-, di-, and tri-acrolein conjugates of each catechin as revealed by our LC-linear ion trap MS analysis. The formation of the acrolein-conjugates of the four catechins was confirmed in the reaction of acrolein with green tea powder (matcha) extract. The addition of matcha tea powder to cake dough significantly suppressed the accumulation of RCS during cake baking. The mono-acrolein conjugates of the four major catechins were detected in the baked cake. The RCS-scavenging capability of tea catechins offers a new functionality of matcha tea powder, and its heat stability demonstrates the usefulness of matcha as a food additive.