Differences in chemical composition predictive of in vitro biological activity among commercially important cultivars of genus Camellia

Abstract

Leaves of plants from the genus Camellia (CAM) are used to make tea; however, there are limited data that compares chemical composition and biological activity of CAM cultivars used to make six tea types. Fourteen CAM cultivars were analyzed by HPLC and UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS and biological activity was assessed in a cell growth assay. Tea bioactives and cell growth inhibition varied 2-4 fold. EGCG was the dominant catechin that predicted the magnitude of growth inhibition. However, pure EGCG did not fully account for inhibitory activity suggesting that it may serve as a chemical marker for bioefficacy. As an unbiased characterization of differences in chemical composition among CAM, individual metabolomes were determined and used to generate principle components (PC). PC's from the metabolome were complementary to those from targeted analyses of tea bioactives and were predictive of growth inhibition. This study provides a frame work for identifying CAM cultivars with beneficial traits.

Keywords: Biological activity; Camellia; Catechins; Chemical composition; Metabolomics; Tea bioactives.