ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF DIFFERENT WHITE TEAS: COMPARISON OF HOT AND COLD TEA INFUSIONS

The study investigates the antioxidant characteristics of hot and cold infusions of various white teas in relation to their grades and steeping conditions. Antioxidant activity, chelating activity, total phenol (TPC), flavonoids (TFC), theaflavins and individual catechins content, were examined. The results confirm that extraction of tea leaves carried out with water at room temperature leads to the formation of infusions particularly rich in compounds with antioxidant activity. In fact, for all the white teas studied, cold infusions had a higher content of phenols (4.77-7.63 mmol/L Gallic Acid Equivalents GAE), flavonoids (1.47-2.53 mmol/L Catechin Equivalents CE) and catechins (441.5-1328.2 μg/mL) compared to the hot ones (1.43-4.02 mmol/L GAE, 0.70-1.13 mmol/L CE, 83.4-534.8 μg/mL, respectively). The same trend was also observed for antioxidant activities examined using the ABTS assay (cold: 17.09-34.23; hot: 5.26-17.07 mmol/L Trolox Equivalents) and by monitoring the effects of the infusions on LDL oxidation (lag time, cold: 172.4-271.2; hot: 88.4-145.9 min). A general trend in antioxidant activity and in polyphenolic compounds content can be delineated between Chinese teas, i.e. Bai Mu Dan ≥ Xue Ya ≥ White Lung Ching > Anji Needle Mao Feng > Yhin Zhen Bai Hao and between African teas, i.e. White Salima Peony > Thyolo Bsp > Bvumbwe Bsp. Concerning metal chelating activity, all the white teas displayed similar levels (0.3-0.6 mmol/L EDTA Equivalents) with no significant differences between the hot and cold infusions (except Bvumbwe Bsp and Thyolo Bsp). In conclusion, this paper contains key information on the antioxidant properties, TPC, TFC, and individual catechins content of several white teas commercially available and the outcomes suggest that preparing tea infused in room temperature water for a couple of hours, may constitute an alternative kind of beverage potentially richer in health benefits, compared to commonly used hot tea infusions.