Biochemical and Microbiological Characterization of White Tea

Abstract

White tea is just made by drying only without any other normal fermentation process which is adopted for other tea varieties. The biochemical components like flavonoids, total polyphenols, tannins and catcehins are prominent in white tea. Catechin content is higher than tannin content. All those active components are higher in methanolic extracts than their corresponding aqueous extracts. The higher antioxidant activities are manifestations of all those active components. Higher antimicrobial property (inhibition of growth in liquid and solid medium against Gram positive and Gram negative organism) is a beneficial aspect of white tea regarding health concern. Moreover lowering of in vitro blood glucose level and inhibition of digestive enzymes ( amylase, -D Glucosidase, lipase) may attribute to the biomedical application of white tea.