Table 3.
Identification of flavonoids and phenolic acids in fresh, steamed, and fermented tea leaves.
| Phenolics (mg/100 g DW) |
Tea Leaves | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh | Steamed | Fermented | |
| Flavonoids | |||
| Cyanidin | 44.54 ± 3.15 b | 34.22 ± 0.45 c | 54.41 ± 3.65 a |
| Myricetin | 9.01 ± 0.06 b | 25.48 ± 2.24 a | 28.86 ± 2.51 a |
| Quercetin | 280.47 ± 5.22 a | 247.91 ± 18.09 b | 184.30 ± 12.25 c |
| Kaempferol | 164.47 ± 4.79 a | 156.56 ± 9.12 a | 116.71 ± 9.77 b |
| Apigenin | ND | ND | 31.90 ± 2.68 |
| Phenolic acids | |||
| Gallic acid | 237.18 ± 17.24 b | 395.08 ± 21.08 a | 83.13 ± 5.73 c |
| Caffeic acid | 9.20 ± 0.56 a | 7.86 ± 0.80 b | 3.75 ± 0.32 c |
| p-Coumaric acid | 14.79 ± 0.60 a | 8.70 ± 0.12 b | ND |
| TPCs (mg GAE/g DW) | 25.74 ± 1.21 c | 97.11 ± 2.83 b | 102.60 ± 1.40 a |
All data are shown as the mean ± standard deviation (SD) of triplicate experiments (n = 3). DW: dry weight; GAE: gallic acid equivalent; ND: not detected. The letters indicate significant differences (p < 0.05) of the same phenolics in different tea samples using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Duncan’s multiple comparison test.