Constituents of Japanese post-fermented teas (Awa-bancha, Goishi-cha and Batabata-cha) were analyzed with HPLC and HPLC-TOFMS. Relatively high amount of catechins and flavonols were detected in Awa-bancha in HPLC analysis. Low amount of catechins were detected in Goishi-cha and Batabata-cha in HPLC-TOFMS analysis. In Goishi-cha, flavonols were major phenolic compounds amongst detected polyphenol constituents. In Batabata-cha, caffeine was the major constituent and the content levels of the other compounds were very low. In HPLC-TOFMS analysis, four catechin metabolites (teadenol A, teadenol B, teasperol and teasperin) were detected for the first time in Goishi-cha. A low concentration of teadenol A was also detected in Awa-bancha. The aerobic fermentation processing in Goishi-cha was supposed to be effective for the production of these catechin metabolites.
