White tea is considered as a special kind of tea not only for its simplest process, but also for its endurable storage. However, little studies have been done about the changes of white tea with increasing aging time, including its composition and health-imparting effects. In the present work, white tea aged 1 year (WT-1), 3 years (WT-3), and 5 years (WT-5) were collected. Their major chemical compounds, antioxidant activities, and inhibitory effects on α-Amylase and α-Glucosidase were evaluated. Results showed that white tea of different storage time showed good antioxidant activity in DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assay, which decreases with the prolongation of storage time. The inhibitory effects on α-Amylase and α-Glucosidase which are key enzymes related to type II diabetes in vitro, are also observed in the similar trend. Meanwhile, prolongation of storage time decreased the content of polyphenols, the main bioactive compounds in tea, which may lead to decrease in the activities investigated.
Keywords: aging; antioxidant activity; polyphenols; white tea; α‐Amylase; α‐Glucosidase.