Analysis of catechins and caffeine in tea extracts by micellar electrokinetic chromatography

Abstract

Cancer chemotherapy is a new and important medical science and much interest has been focused on catechins, not only for their antioxidant activity, but also because of their known antimutagenic and antitumorigenic properties. Green tea and black tea, which are among the most popular beverages consumed worldwide, contain many different catechins. We developed an analytical method capable of separating six different catechins and caffeine in tea by micellar electrokinetic chromatography in only 20 min without extensive sample preparation. Furthermore, we compared the amount of catechins and caffeine in several teas and different preparation modes.