The antioxidant activity of green tea polyphenols in several edible oils and fried noodle was investigated. The green tea polyphenols consisted of 27.1% (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate, 19.3% (+)-gallocatechin, 16.7% (-)-gallocatechin-3-gallate, 16.1% (-)-epigallocatechin, 8.1% (-)-epicatechin-3-gallate, 7.5% (-)-epicatechin, and 5.2% (+)-catechin. The antioxidant effect of green tea polyphenols in lard and soybean oil was dose-dependent, but tocopherol was less effective. Compared to BHA and tocopherol, green tea polyphenols showed a stronger antioxidative activity on fish oil. Noodles were fried in lard containing green tea polyphenols at several concentrations. The oxidative stability of the noodle was proportional to the green tea polyphenol concentration in lard.
