Planta Med 2013; 79 - PK32
DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1352292

Evaluation of food composition and safety in nutraceutical products from green tea (Camellia sinensis) by uhplc-orbitrap-ms and gc-qqq-ms/ms

N López-Gutiérrez 1, G Martínez-Domínguez 1, P Plaza-Bolaños 1, A Garrido-Frenich 1, R Romero-González 1
  • 1Almeria University, Dept. Chemistry and Physics, Almeria, 04120, Spain

Nutraceuticals consumption has increased in the global market. One of the problems related to their development is the appearance of fraudulent products. Therefore, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved in 1994 the law Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). Another issue relies on the fact that nutraceuticals are produced from herbal concentrates, so the occurrence of pesticides used during herbal production is possible. In the European Union (EU), Regulation EC 396/20051 control pesticide residue levels, but only in raw material.

Many nutraceuticals are derived from tea, mainly green tea, which has a major amount of polyphenols. However, the information shown in the label is not complete and nutraceutical composition is not well specified. Obviously, polyphenol composition will determine healthy effects derived from their consumption.

In this study, polyphenols and pesticides were determined in nutraceuticals derived from green tea in order to assure the quality and safety of this type of products. For that purpose, chromatrographic techniques (gas and liquid chromatography) coupled to mass spectrometry analyzers (triple quadrupole and Exactive-Orbitrap) were used.

Regarding polyphenols content, higher concentrations were observed for aglycones (-)-epicatechin, (+)-catechin, gallic acid, (-)-gallocatechin, and quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, in the range from 261 to 10729 mg kg-1, which are similar to previous studies.

Concerning nutraceutical safety, more than 150 pesticides were monitored. Pesticides as 4,4-dichlorobenzophenone, chlorpyrifos methyl, o,p'-dicofol, p,p'-dicofol and phthalimide, were detected in the samples at concentrations ranging from 27.5 to 44.5 µg kg-1.

Acknowledgements:

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER (Ref. CTQ2012 – 34304). GMD acknowledges the Health Secretary from Veracruz, Mexico and the Mexican Senate for financial support.

References:

[1] REGULATION (EC) No 396/2005