Abstract
Antioxidative activity and substances in black tea was investigated. The results obtained as follows.
1. Black tea infusions showed the strong antioxidative activity on the oxidation of linoleic acid.
2. The polyphenol compounds of black tea infusions were fractionated by Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. Of those, a catechin ((-) epi-gallocatechin gallate) and the colored components exhibited the strong antioxidative activity. Then, the colored components were fractionated into three groups (F-I, F-II, F-III) on Sephadex LH-20 column. Their antioxidative activities in decreasing order were F-I (higher polymerized colored substance) >F-III (theaflavin) >F-II (thearubigin).
