Tea (Camellia sinensis) is a beverage beneficial to health and is also a source for extracting bioactive components such as theanine, tea polyphenols (TPP) and tea polysaccharides (TPS). TPS is a group of heteropolysaccharides bound with proteins. There is evidence showing that TPS not only improves immunity but also has various bioactivities, such as antioxidant, antitumor, antihyperglycemia, and anti-inflammation. However, inconsistent results concerning chemical composition and bioactivity of TPS have been published in recent years. The advances in chemical composition and bioactivities of TPS are reviewed in the present paper. The inconsistent and controversial results regarding composition and bioactivities of TPS are also discussed.
Keywords: Camellia sinensis; anti-inflammation; antihyperglycemia; antioxidant; antitumor; chemical composition; tea polysaccharides.