Tea contains highly fluorescent phenolic compounds that largely contribute to its antioxidant capacity.  Multidimensional fluorescence spectroscopy with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) is investigated as an alternative to the traditional Folin-Ciocalteu reagent method for total phenol quantification. The fluorescence technique shows the advantage of being able to provide information beyond total phenol concentration by revealing the spectral characteristics of different forms of phenol in the tea samples.  After determining optimal sample preparation parameters, PARAFAC models of the fluorescence data were correlated with results from a modified microplate Folin-Ciocalteu phenol assay for ten black, green, and oolong tea samples.  A three-component PARAFAC model revealed fluorescence excitation and emission spectra resembling monophenols and polyphenols previously studied by this laboratory. The fluorescence results can be used to assess the character of phenols in different tea samples for health and diet applications.

Analysis of phenolic compounds in tea using multidimensional fluorescence spectroscopy

247th National Meeting (2014)

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