Dynamics of Water-soluble Pectin during Unrefined Tea Processing: Content and Molecular Weight Distribution

Abstract

We examined the dynamics of water-soluble pectin (WSP), specifically the content and molecular weight distribution, in tea leaves and tea infusions in relation to steaming time during unrefined tea processing. It was revealed that the fraction of higher-molecular weight (MW) WSP in tea leaves was infused at the beginning of unrefined tea processing at all steaming times, and lower-MW WSP was not infused during any processing steps. Moreover, by increasing steaming time, the increase of higher-MW WSP content in tea leaves was reflected by the increase in WSP content of corresponding size in the tea infusions.