Letter to the Editor
Antioxidant Activity of Black Tea vs. Green Tea
Dear Editor:
A recent article by Leung et al. (1) reported that drinking
black tea has benefits equal to those of drinking green tea in
terms of their antioxidant capacities because theaflavins
present in black tea possess at least the same antioxidant
potency as catechins present in green tea. As reported in
related studies (2– 4), it is clear that a group of theaflavins
(TF) in black tea, specifically theaflavin-3,3⬘-digallate (TF3),
has strong antioxidant activity similar to (-)-epigallocatechin
gallate (EGCG), a major antioxidant in green tea. However,
the concentration of diverse antioxidants in the different teas
should be first considered before drawing any conclusions
about overall health benefits of teas.
We measured the total phenol content and antioxidant
capacity of commercial tea products widely available in Europe
and the United States. Each bag of green and black tea was
extracted with 200 mL distilled deionized water at 100°C for
2 min. The total phenol content was determined by the
Folin-Ciocalteau method and total antioxidant capacity was
measured in terms of free radical–scavenging activity (5).
Black and green teas contained total phenols equal to 124 and
165 mg gallic acid, respectively. We also found that the
antioxidant capacity per serving of green tea (436 mg vitamin
C equivalents) was much higher than that of black tea
(239 mg).
Therefore, we conclude that green tea has more health
benefits than an equal volume of black tea in terms of anti-
oxidant capacity. This can be explained by the fact that each
tea is different in terms of composition and concentration of
antioxidant compounds. As reported previously (6 – 8), TF are
low (2– 6% of extracted solids) and thearubigens (⬎20%) are
high in black tea, whereas in green tea, catechins are much
higher (30 – 42%), particularly EGCG, which is the most
abundant catechin. In addition, as discussed in our report (9)
and another review (7), we must consider the combined effects
of the complex bioactive compounds when considering the
overall health benefits of a food. In conclusion, the total
0022-3166/02 $3.00 © 2002 American Society for Nutritional Sciences. J. Nutr. 132: 785, 2002.
Manuscript received 27 November 2001. Initial review completed 23 January 2002.
785
antioxidant capacity of tea is not related to a particular kind of
polyphenol but to the combined activity of diverse antioxi-
dants, including phenolic acids and polyphenols.
Ki Won Lee and Hyong Joo Lee
Department of Food Science and Technology
School of Agricultural Biotechnology
Seoul National University
Suwon 441–744, Korea
Chang Yong Lee
Department of Food Science and Technology
Cornell University
Geneva, NY 14456
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LITERATURE CITED
1. Leung, L. K., Su, Y., Chen, R., Zang, Z., Huang, Y. & Chen, Z. Y. (2001)
Theaflavins in black and catechins in green tea are equally effective antioxidants.
J. Nutr. 131: 2248 –2251.
2. Yoshida, H., Ishikawa, T., Hosoai, H., Suzukawa, M., Ayaori, M., Hisada,
T., Sawada, S., Yonemura, A., Higashi, K., Ito, T., Nakajima, K., Yamashita, T.,
Tomiyasu, K., Nishiwaki, M., Ohsuzu, F. & Nakamura, H. (1999) Inhibitory
effect of tea flavonoids on the ability of cells to oxidize low density lipoprotein.
Biochem. Pharmacol. 58: 1695–1703.
3. Lin, Y. L., Tsai, S. H., Lin-Shiau, S. Y., Ho, C. T. & Lin, J. K. (1999)
Theaflavin-3,3⬘-digallate from black tea blocks the nitric oxide synthase by down-
regulating the activation of NF-␬B in macrophages. Eur. J. Pharmacol. 367:
379 –388.
4. Lin, J. K., Chen, P. C., Ho, C. T. & Lin-Shiau, S. Y. (2000) Inhibition of
xanthine oxidase and suppression of intracellular reactive oxygen species in
HL-60 cells by theaflavin-3,3⬘-digallate, (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate, and propyl
gallate. J. Agric. Food Chem. 48: 2736 –2743.
5. Re, R., Pellegrini, N., Proteggente, A., Pannala, A., Yang, M. & Rice-
Evans, C. (1999) Antioxidant activity applying an improved ABTS radical cation
decolorization assay. Free Radic. Biol. Med. 26: 1231–1237.
6. Graham, H. N. (1992) Green tea composition, consumption, and poly-
phenol chemistry. Preventive Med. 21: 334 –350.
7. Yang, C. S. & Landau, J. M. (2000) Effects of tea consumption on
nutrition and health. J. Nutr. 130: 2409 –2412.
8. Wang, L. F., Kim, D. M. & Lee, C. Y. (2000) Effects of heat processing
and storage on flavanols and sensory qualities of green tea beverage. J. Agric.
Food Chem. 48: 4227– 4232.
9. Eberhardt, M. V., Lee, C. Y. & Liu, R. H. (2000) Antioxidant activity of
fresh apples. Nature (Lond.) 405: 903–904.