Temperature and Time of Steeping Affect the Antioxidant Properties of White, Green, and Black Tea Infusions

Tea (Camellia sinensis) is the most highly consumed beverage in the world next to water. The common way of preparation is steeping in hot water which is varying for different type of tea. We investigated the antioxidant properties of 6 type of tea leaves under different time and temperatures of extraction method used. In general, all samples tested in this study demonstrated high levels of antioxidant capacity and antioxidant activity. The results indicate that the antioxidants activity is significantly affected by time and temperature of steeping and the highest was depending on the variety. White state values, green and black teas showed different levels of antioxidants under different extraction conditions. Overall, the highest activity for white tea was in prolonged hot and in some assays prolonged hot and cold extracts, whereas for green tea the highest activity observed in prolonged cold steeping while, for black tea was in short hot water infusion. The results of this study showed the antioxidant capacity of white and green tea was greater than black tea.