Author(s)

Dongyang Li^1,2,3*, Yu Zhang⁴, Ritsuko Tamura^1,2, Toshiro Nakajima⁵, Yuko Caballero^1,2,6*

¹Graduate School of Humanities and Sciences, Ochanomizu University, Tokyo, Japan.
²Leading Graduate School Promotion Center, Ochanomizu University, Tokyo, Japan.
³Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
⁴Research Center for Agricultural Information Technology, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, Ibaraki, Japan.
⁵Tohoen Company, Tokyo, Japan.
⁶Utsunomiya University, Utsunomiya, Japan.

The intensity of the bitterness of catechins increases with increased concentration, but the taste palatability decreased in green tea extract. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a blend of tea leaf particles of various sizes would result in a good balance between catechin content and appreciable taste. The control is common tea (CT) with 6 - 10 mm long leaves. Blend tea (BT) was prepared by mixing 5 mm and 120 - 130 mm long tea leaves in a ratio of 3:2. The catechin content of hot water extracts was analyzed by HPLC, and the sensory test was conducted with 99 volunteers. In BT, the total catechin content was significantly higher than that in CT. The sensory test results revealed that BT was less bitter and had more preferable color than CT. More catechins were extracted from BT, but it tasted less bitter. Thus, the recalibration of the tea leaf particle size can result in good balance between catechin content and palatability.

Blend Tea, Catechin Content, Sensory Test, Bitterness, Palatability

Li, D. , Zhang, Y. , Tamura, R. , Nakajima, T. and Caballero, Y. (2023) Influence of Tea Leaf Particle Size on Catechin Extraction and Green Tea Sensory Acceptance. Food and Nutrition Sciences, 14, 1043-1056. doi: 10.4236/fns.2023.1411066.