Table 2.

Comparison of catechins (percentage of total catechins) and caffeine (mg/g) in different Azorean Camellia sinensis samples.^a

Catechins and CAF	C. sinensis samples (different plant parts and combinations of plant parts)
	B	1st L	2nd L	I	B+1st+2nd L	B+1st+2nd L + I	B+1st+2nd+3rd L + I
Individual catechins and CAF contentsb
C	0.24 ± 0.02	0.42 ± 0.03	0.78 ± 0.02	0.63 ± 0.02	1.10 ± 0.05	0.69 ± 0.02	1.68 ± 0.05
EC	1.92 ± 0.03	4.64 ± 0.10	7.18 ± 0.12	11.61 ± 0.15	6.65 ± 0.08	8.48 ± 0.14	10.14 ± 0.14
EGC	1.14 ± 0.08	1.82 ± 0.08	1.30 ± 0.07	1.21 ± 0.05	1.88 ± 0.06	0.67 ± 0.04	0.83 ± 0.05
EGCG	25.32 ± 0.15	22.72 ± 0.11	29.54 ± 0.23	16.61 ± 0.08	21.83 ± 0.14	23.56 ± 0.16	30.96 ± 0.15
ECG	35.53 ± 1.04	46.57 ± 1.12	52.42 ± 1.21	34.82 ± 0.34	60.87 ± 1.32	48.59 ± 1.17	42.40 ± 1.06
GC	35.19 ± 0.31	21.24 ± 0.20	5.05 ± 0.09	31.19 ± 0.17	5.08 ± 0.06	15.33 ± 0.15	9.17 ± 0.05
GCG	0.67 ± 0.04	2.60 ± 0.09	3.73 ± 0.11	3.92 ± 0.13	2.59 ± 0.09	2.67 ± 0.08	4.81 ± 0.11
CAF	29.01 ± 1.19	34.45 ± 1.31	22.89 ± 0.98	51.50 ± 2.37	37.75 ± 1.86	41.76 ± 2.03	36.41 ± 1.67
Catechin groups contentb
Est. CAT	61.52	71.89	85.69	55.35	85.29	74.82	78.17
Non-est. CAT	38.49	28.12	14.31	44.64	14.71	25.17	21.82
cis-CAT (ECDs)	63.91	75.75	90.44	64.25	91.22	81.30	84.33
trans-CAT	36.10	24.26	9.56	35.74	8.77	18.69	15.66
cis/trans ratio	1.77	3.12	9.46	1.80	10.40	4.35	5.39

^aValues are mean ± SD (n = 3). B, bud. I, internodes. L, leaves. C, (+)-catechin. EC, (−)-epicatechin. EGC, (−)-epigallocatechin. EGCG, (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate. ECG, (−)-epicatechin-3-gallate. GC, (+)-gallocatechin. GCG, (+)-gallocatechin-3-gallate. CAF, caffeine. CAT, catechins. Est. CAT (esterified catechins), sum of EGCG, ECG and GCG. Non-est. CAT (non-esterified catechins), sum of C, EC, EGC and GC. cis-CAT or ECDs (epicatechin derivatives), sum of EC, EGC, EGCG and ECG. trans-CAT, sum of C, GC and GCG.

^bDry weight basis.