Planta Med 2015; 81 - PA26
DOI: 10.1055/s-0035-1545155

Characterization and quantitation of 1, 3-dimethylbutylamine, caffeine, theobromine, theophylline, and eight catechins from tea varieties using LC-UV/MS

YH Wang 1, B Avula 1, M Wang 1, S Sagi 1, IA Khan 1, 2, 3
  • 1National Center for Natural Products Research, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
  • 2Division of Pharmacognosy, Department of BioMolecular Sciences, School of Pharmacy, The University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USA
  • 3Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Components of tea (Camellia sinensis) have been of considerable interest in recent years because of their potential utility of antioxidant and anticarcinogenic activity. Recently, the stimulant 1, 3-dimethylbutylamine (DMBA) has been used in dietary supplements that claimed to come from tea. With the aim to prove that DMBA does not naturally occur in tea, an UHPLC-UV/MS method was developed for characterization and quantitative determination of DMBA, caffeine, theobromine, theophylline, and eight catechins from tea varieties. A total of 102 different tea samples were analyzed, but DMBA was not found from any of tested samples. The content of caffeine, theobromine, theophylline, catechin, gallocatechin, epicatechin, epigallocatechin gallate, gallocatechin gallate, catechin gallate, epicatechin gallate, and epigallocatechin in different tea varieties were summarized.