Abstract
A simple preparation method was developed for tea-seed saponins (TSS) with improved quality. This method was applied to the preparation of TSS from 14 tea-seed cultivars. The yield of TSS was in the range of 10 ～ 13% per dry weight and not appreciably different among the cultivars. In addition, the antimicrobial activity of TSS against 6 yeast species was investigated. TSS showed a relatively high growth inhibitory activity against all the yeasts examined and their minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values varied from 0.08 to 1.20 mg/mL.
