Abstract
Green tea contains catechins, which are beneficial to human health. The retention of catechins and caffeine was measured in various dishes prepared with powdered green tea, among other ingredients. Catechins were detected in all the dishes tested, although the detected levels were lower than those of caffeine. One of the dishes tested for catechins and caffeine was pancakes containing powdered green tea. The level of catechins decreased just by mixing the tea powder with dough, and decreased further after baking, while the quantity of caffeine measured in the baked pancake was almost the same as that in the unmixed tea powder. Catechins in tea powder interact readily with various food materials and are unstable at cooking temperatures. It is important to give due consideration to this and other chemical properties of catechins while developing recipes of dishes containing tea leaves, if the objective is to increase the intake of catechins, and prevent the overwhelming of catechins by caffeine.
