Polyphenol content, anti-lipase and antioxidant activity of teas made in Georgia

Anti-lipase and antioxidant activities of 5 types of tea produced by Ltd “Geoplant”, Georgia, were studied. Traditional Green and Jasmine Blossom revealed the highest antioxidant activity – 2.35 and 2.32 mg of ascorbic acid equivalents (AAE) per mL of tea infusion made according to the usual method used by consumers. Intermediate antioxidant activity was found for black tea – 1.24 mg of AAE per mL of tea infusion. Black tea with fruits had 0.53 mg of AAE per mL of tea infusion. Alpine Berry infusion had the least antioxidant activity – 0.35 mg of AAE per mL of tea infusion. Antioxidant activities of teas were in correlation with total polyphenol contents in tea infusions with R² = 0.81. Green traditional and black tea showed the highest level of lipase inhibition, i.e. 70.6% and 70.3% per mL (11.7% per mg dry matter) of infusion. The values were not statistically significantly different (p < 0.05). Jasmine green and Alpine Berry showed the next highest levels of lipase inhibition, i.e. 66.8% per mL (8.8% and 10.4% per mg dry matter respectively) of infusion. Christmas tea showed the least anti-lipase activity – 65.1% per mL (12.5% per mg dry matter) of infusion. Orlistat^® showed 16.6% inhibition of lipase activity per mg of dry matter. So, tea infusions revealed about 30% less anti-lipase activity per mg dry matter than.