THE ANALYSIS BY HPLC OF GREEN, BLACK AND PUER TEAS PRODUCED IN YUNNAN

Samples of tea (Quingmao, steamed, black and Pu'er) produced in Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China, from the locally characteristic large-leaved Camellia sinensis, have been brewed and the brews analysed for their contents of flavonol glycosides, flavan-3-ols and their oxidation products. Several samples of Pu'er tea manufactured in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s were also examined. The brews prepared from Quingmao tea and steamed green tea leaf were very similar containing primarily flavan-3-ols accompanied by flavonol glycosides, theogallin and gallic acid. The profile of flavanols was unusual, being dominated by (-)-epicatechingallate (rather than (-)-epigallocatechingallate) and by an unusually large (+)-catechin content. The brew of the equivalent black tea retained significant amounts of residual flavanols (particularly (-)-epicatechingallate and (+)-catechin), and contained significant amounts of thearubigins, theaflavic acids and theaflavins (including the less common analogues probably derived from the oxidation of (+)-catechin). The brews prepared from the Pu'er teas were distinguishable from the black tea brew by the absence of theaflavins and theaflavic acids, and by much smaller residues of flavanols and flavonol glycosides. The contents of thearubigins varied considerably whereas those of gallic acid were similar.