What's in Your Tea?? (EGCG Hannah Dokken)

Most of you have drank tea before, as it is the second most consumed drink in the world next to water, but do you know any of the compounds that make up tea?  Tea has been around for over 5000 years and dates to ancient China¹, but most of the compounds that make up tea haven’t been known or isolated until recently!  There are over 15 compounds in tea! And one of the main ones is epigallocatechin gallate, it was first isolated in 1948², only 72 years ago.  This compound has a super long name, so it is easier to abbreviate it to EGCG!

EGCG is an interesting compound and has many cool properties.  EGCG is known as a phytochemical, because it is found in plants.  It is found in the leaves and leaf buds of a plant called Camellia sinensis, also known as the tea plant, which make sense³!  EGCG is found in many different teas but is most abundant in green tea!  Something you may not know is that black tea is just fermented green tea!  EGCG is very good for you, and there are not many health concerns associated with this compound.  EGCG is an antioxidant, which means it reduces the damage caused by oxygen in the body⁴.  EGCG is also an anti-cancer and anti-mutagen agent, so it can help prevent the development of cancer and mutagens that form in the body⁴!  The only thing to be cautious about EGCG is it has been linked to acute liver damage⁵ when consumed at high concentrations.  Green tea dietary supplements contain high concentrations of EGCG.

If you do not like green tea or any kind of tea, do not worry there are TONNES of alternative sources that provide similar properties to EGCG!  Most fruits and vegetables have antioxidant properties like EGCG, even some food oils have antioxidant properties⁶!  Anti-cancer and anti-mutagenic agents can be found in the skin and seeds of many different fruits, a high concentration can be found in different types of red wine⁷.

Figure 1: Tea in a chemistry mug

References:

¹The History of Tea. http://www.coffeeteawarehouse.com/tea-history.html (accessed Feb. 10, 2020).

²Bradfield, A E; Penny, M; Wright, W B. The Catechins of Green Tea. Journal of the Chemical Society 1947, 32–36

³Chen, Di; Wan, Sheng Biao; Yang, Huanjie; Yuan, Jian; Chan, Tak Hang; Dou, Q Ping. EGCG, Green Tea Polyphenols and Their Synthetic Analogs and Prodrugs for Human Cancer Prevention and Treatment. Advances in clinical chemistry 2011, 53, 155–177.

⁴Bernatoniene, Jurga; Kopustinskiene, Dalia Marija. The Role of Catechins in Cellular Responses to Oxidative Stress. Molecules : A Journal of Synthetic Chemistry and Natural Product Chemistry 2018, 23 (4).

⁵National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Database. (-)-Epigallocatechin gallate, CID=65064, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Epigallocatechin-gallate (accessed on Jan. 20, 2020).

⁶Evangelista, Cristina Márcia Wolf; Antunes, Lusânia Maria Greggi; Bianchi, Maria de Lourdes Pires. In vivo cytogenetic effects of multiple doses of dietary vegetable oils. Genetics and Molecular Biology 2006, 29 (4), 730–734. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1415-47572006000400024.

⁷Brewer, M.S. Natural Antioxidants: Sources, Compounds, Mechanisms of Action, and Potential Applications. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety 2011, 10 (4), 221–247. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-4337.2011.00156.x.

Figure 1: Dokken, H. (2020). Tea in a Chemistry Mug, Alberta, 2020. [Photograph].