Lipids of "Tencha"

Abstract

This paper describes the characteristics of lipids extracted from "Tencha", which is produced from sun-shaded tea leaves. "Tencha" is usually ground with a stone mill to a fine powder, "Matcha". Main lipids and tocopherol contents and fatty acid composition were determined. Total lipid content of "Tencha" (six cultivars) ranged from 3.32% for cv. 'Kyomidori' to 4.78% for cv. 'Samidori'. The lipids consisted of neutral lipids (14.1-19.9%), glycolipids (63.8-69.2%) and phospholipids (14.2-17.2%). Main component in polar lipids was monogalactosyldiglyceride followed by phosphatidylcholine and digalactosyldiglyceride. Major fatty acids in total lipids were linolenic acid (39.4-44.1%), linoleic acid (23.9-28.4%) and palmitic acid (18.5-20.1%). Glycolipids contained a large amount of linolenic acid (63.2-68.4% of their total acyl moieties). Tocopherol content ranged from 11.0 for cv. 'Ujimidori' to 14.4mg/100g sample for cv. 'Samidori'. Alpha tocopherol amounted to 86.9-94.6% of total tocopherols.