Since ancient times, tea has been revered as a health drink for health preservation.
At present, the functional components found in different types of tea mainly include polyphenols, alkaloids, amino acids, polysaccharides, vitamins, and oxidized polyphenol derivatives, among which tea polyphenols are the most abundant and widely studied.
Tea polyphenols are a general term for polyphenols in tea, accounting for 18-36% of the dry weight of fresh tea leaves. They can be divided into flavanols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, phenolic acids, and phenolic acids.
Among them, the most important component, catechins, accounts for 50% to 70% of the total tea polyphenols.
There are multiple types of catechins, and there are 8 main types of catechins present in tea-EGCG,EC,ECG,EGC,C,GC,CG and GCG.
Among them, EGCG has the highest content, accounting for about 70% of the total amount of catechins. Its molecular structure contains 8 phenolic hydroxyl groups, making it the most active catechin.
The chemical structure characteristics of tea polyphenols determine their strong ability to scavenge free radicals.
Its redox potential is low, and its multiple ortho phenolic hydroxyl groups can provide hydrogen to interrupt or terminate the chain reaction of free radicals.
Meanwhile, tea polyphenols can activate the scavenging system of free radicals and can inhibit the production of free radicals by inhibiting the oxidase system and complex induced oxidation of transition metal ions.
Therefore, tea polyphenols are known as "natural antioxidants and preservatives".

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