Epicatechin levels in teas with and without milk

CHED 182

Regina L. Benson, msreginab@netscape.net, Faith I. Edionwe, faithfully1985@hotmail.com, and Christine E. MacTaylor, christine.mactaylor@salemstate.edu. Department of Chemistry and Physics, Salem State College, 253 Lafayette St, Salem, MA 01970
Antioxidants are an important part of nutritional intake because they reduce oxidative stress and damage to cells. Black tea is known to contain polyphenols, specifically flavonoids. Epicatechin is one type of flavonoid and is found in black tea. Recent news reports state antioxidant effects may be hindered by the addition of milk to tea. Six different types of tea were tested with and without milk to determine the levels of epicatechin using HPLC. The difference in epicatechin levels between types of tea as well as between tea with and without milk are presented in this research.