Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Semi-Fermented Tea

Abstract

This study investigated the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of 7 semi-fermented tea from Korea and China. The DPPH and ABTS radical-scavenging activities, and reducing power gradually increased as the concentration increased in all the sample groups. In the DPPH radical-scavenging activity (IC50), domestic oolong tea (Hadong) was 9.99 μg/mL, white tea was 10.44 μg/mL and Junshan Yinzhen tea was 4.99 μg/mL. Junshan Yinzhen tea showed the highest antioxidant effect among other extracts. In the evaluation of ABTS radical-scavenging activities, except Seogwihuang cha (Jeju) and Da Hong Pao tea, other samples showed a higher ABTS radical-scavenging effect compared to the ascorbic acid control group. White tea (Hadong) with a concentration of 100 μg/mL showed a significant nitric oxide (NO) inhibition activity compared to all the other samples by decreasing NO production to 46%. In the analysis of MPTP-induced dopaminergic neurotoxicity in SH-SY5Y cells, domestic white tea (Hadong), Da Hong Pao tea, and Junsan Yinchen tea at a concentration of 100 μg/mL showed results of 68.16%, 69.96%, and 69.14%, respectively. These results indicated 20% higher anti-inflammatory effects compared to the MPTP treatment group. Therefore, our results suggest that domestic semi-fermented tea has good antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects and is expected to have high utility value as a functional food material.