Evidence based seasonal variances in catechin and caffeine content of tea

Tea is a popular refreshing beverage and its popularity is also due to its multidimensional health benefits. The health effects of tea are due to its polyphenolic contents, viz. catechins, and methyl xanthenes like caffeine etc. The variance in concentration of these secondary metabolites both in fresh tea leaves and processed black tea owing to seasonal variances was studied by a chemometrically optimized and validated quantitative HPLC method. As per quantitative HPLC results, the fresh tea leaves plucked during spring and also the processed black tea made from it showed the highest yield of catechins and caffeine. Catechin and caffeine content were found to decrease quantitatively in monsoon and further decrease in autumn as observed from HPLC analysis of fresh tea leaves and processed black tea made from it.