Change in tea polyphenol and purine alkaloid composition during solid-state fungal fermentation of postfermented tea

J Agric Food Chem. 2012 Feb 8;60(5):1213-7. doi: 10.1021/jf204844g. Epub 2012 Jan 27.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate tea polyphenol and purine alkaloid contents of pu-erh tea (Camellia assamica) in a fermentation solid system with Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus fumigatu. In addition, the objective was to find the major intermediate product during fermentation by HPLC-MS(n) analysis. The results showed the change of catechin, ester-catechins and gallic acid by quantitative analysis. In the early stages, the contents of ester-catechins were lightly increased. Then, ester-catechins were gradually degraded to produce catechins and gallic acid. Furthermore, a major metabolic intermediate compound of catechins was observed and elucidated by HPLC-DAD-MS(n) analysis. This study provided a reliable dynamic data description and metabolic pathway of tea polyphenols for postfermented pu-erh tea.

MeSH terms

  • Alkaloids / analysis*
  • Alkaloids / metabolism
  • Aspergillus fumigatus / metabolism*
  • Aspergillus niger / metabolism*
  • Camellia / chemistry*
  • Camellia / metabolism
  • Camellia / microbiology*
  • Fermentation
  • Polyphenols / analysis*
  • Polyphenols / metabolism
  • Purines / analysis*
  • Purines / metabolism
  • Tea / chemistry

Substances

  • Alkaloids
  • Polyphenols
  • Purines
  • Tea
  • purine