Abstract:
Catechins
(flavan
-3-ols) are polyphenolic plant secondary metabolites tha
t have been strongly
associated with a wide variety of beneficial health effects
in vitro
,
in vivo
and clinically. This study
reports findings on the content of catechins in tea seed oil (TSO) extracted by Soxhlet extraction
from seeds of different clones of Kenyan tea. Extraction of catechins from the crude oils was achie-
ved by sequential liquid
-liquid extraction (LLE) using methanol and quantified by reverse phase
High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP
-HPL
C). Results obtained revealed that all the crude
test oils contained catechins, with oils extracted from clones TRFK K
-Purple and GW
-Ejulu having
the highest total catechin content of 9.8 ± 0.25 and 9.0 ± 0.83 (×
10
−
3
% flavonoids) respectively.
Statistically significant differences (p
< 0.05) were evident in the total catechin contents
of crude
oils extracted from tea seeds with those extracted from corn, sunflower and soybean seeds. Mor
e-
over, clonal variations were evident
, as the total catechin
contents of oils extracted from clones
TRFK K
-Purple and GW
-Ejulu were statistically different (p
< 0.05) from those extracted from clones
TRFK 301/3, TRFK 301/4, TRFK 301/5, TRFK 306, TRFK 91/1 and TRFCA
SFS 150. Thus, the cu
r-
rent findings strongly suggest that
oils from seeds of Kenyan tea
cultivars
can be a potential
source
of potent
natural antioxidants.
