Journal of Tea 2013

39( 4) : 406 411

Characteristics of Superfine Green Tea Powder

and Its Application in Food Industry

Hai-Bo PanLing HouGuo-Liang JieYou-Ying TuYuan-Yuan Wu *

Department of Tea Science866 Yuhangtang oadHangzhou 310058China

* Corresponding author YY Wuyywu@ zju edu cn

Abstract
Superfine green tea powder is a new kind of tea product that can be eaten directly It provided most of the
benefits of whole green tea leaveswith all of the bioactive ingredients This paper highlighted the characteristics
and health benefits of superfine green tea powderand its applications in food industry
Key words Superfine green tea powder characteristics health benefits food processing

1 Introduction
Tea has a long history as one of the most pleasant and popular beverages in the world About two-third world
population drink tea and related products everyday for health purpose The traditional tea intake is drinking the tea
infusion and throwing away the tea waste Hence about 25-40% water soluble substances including tea
polyphenolstea polysaccharidealkaloidsamino acidsvitamins and mineral elements could be digested This
traditional method of tea brewing resulted in a lot of functional components not being fully extracted and utilized
For exampleabout 60-70% tea polyphenols and less than 20% tea polysaccharide could be extracted with
water1 The extraction ratios of free amino acid and minerals are around 70% 1 Insoluble ingredients such as
some vitaminsproteinscarbohydratescarotenes and part of minerals are still retained in the tea waste
With the purpose to fully use the nutritional components of teathe new fashion manner of eating tea came out
recently The tea powder grinded from raw tea materials were widely used in this new tea intake manner The
particle sizes of different green tea powders are shown in Table 12 Usuallythe tender green tea being crushed
into 10-25 m or less with high quality is called superfine green tea powder and well accepted In addition
Matchaa special kind of superfine green tea powdergrowing in 90% shade and being finely ground into powders
with a stone millprovides the higher quality tea powder
Table 1 The particle sizes of green tea powder and superfine green tea powder
Tea powder Particle size m
Green tea powder less than 76
Superfine green tea powder less than 10 25

Superfine green tea powders including Matcha provide most of the nutrients of whole green tea leaveswithout
the loss of active ingredients and nutrients A number of investigations have been carried out on the characteristics of
superfine green tea powder In food industrysuperfine green tea powder provides its coloraroma and taste
NowadaysGreen tea powder has been widely applied in ice creamyoghurtbreadand cake The food added with
green tea powder not only tastes and looks better but also increases the healthy function To better understand the
superfine green tea powderits characteristics and the application in food industry are summarized in this paper
2 The characteristics of the superfine green tea powder
The physical properties and chemical composition of superfine green tea powder change greatly in the process
4 Pan HB et al / Superfine green tea powder and its application 407

of grinding Particles of superfine green tea powder become smaller and more uniform during process Superfine
green tea powder has a strong surface adsorption capacityhigher solubilitydispersibility and flowability4 Along
with grinding the particle size of green tea powder gradually become smallerthe moisture contentbulk density and
tap density gradually become smaller Hu analyseed the basic physical propertycolor differencemain chemical
components and antioxidant activity of superfine green tea powder in different sizes and find the ideal parameters of
green tea powder are as follows moisture content 4 93% -4 75% diameter 20 3-13 5 mmbulk density
0. 323-0 297 kg / m3 tap density 0 666-0 614 kg / m3 Under this conditiongreen tea powder with green and
bright colornarrower and more uniform particle size distribution has the best quality5 Shin-ichi Sawamura et al
investigated Matcha ground by a jet-mill and found a predominant flowabilityextensibility and foaming property for
its small diameterhigh degree of circularityand better utility6 People take all the nutrients of green tea powder
by directly eating tea Superfine green tea powder contains a lot of essential nutrients The mainly ingredients were
shown as Table 2 Large amount of dietary fiber in green tea powder is extremely important for maintaining proper
digestive healthsince it provided " bulk" to the intestinal contents People feel full after the intake of soluble
dietary fibers and this false feeling may help people control the body weight7 In additioninsoluble dietary fiber
protected the intestine by shortening the time of harmful substances through the intestine8 The human body could
get more minerals by eating green tea powder directly than the tea extraction9 The contents of the minerals in tea
powders were higher than tea extractions shown as Table 3
Table 2 The content of main nutrients of superfine green tea powder10
Ingredients Contenta % Ingredients Content % Ingredients Content %
Polyphenol 10 0 Calcium 0 42 Vitamin A 0 005
Protein 31 0 Iron 0 02 Vitamin C 0 060
Caffeine 3 0 Potassium 2 7 Carotene 0 0029

Table 3 The contents of CuFeZnMnNiCa in tea powder and extraction

with boiling water for 60 min g / g
Zn Fe Ca Mn Cu Ni
Tea powder 50 2 710 0 2487 0 758 4 13 0 11 2
Tea extraction 12 8 14 6 134 4 246 0 5 6 6 8

As the results of Neilson's researches showed oxygen could promote the degradation of catechins With the
decreases of green tea powder particle sizethe content of EGCGEGCECand ECG declined significantly11
In additionthe temperature is closely related to the oxidation of catechins High temperature can accelerate the
oxidation of catechins Catechins in boiling water for 7 h will reduce by 20% 11 During the grinding process
temperature is lowgenerally less than 40 By controlling the temperature of superfine green tea grinding
processthe oxidation of catechins can be effectively mitigated Although catechins content of green tea powder
decreasesdissolution quantity of catechins increases
Extraction rates of EGCGpolysaccharide and minerals in superfine green tea powder are much higher than the
native green tea and green tea powder with larger particle sizes Maeda-Yamamoto et al detected the mice blood
concentrations by giving different sizes of Benifuuki green tea powderit was found that the smaller the particle size
of green tea powderthe higher the EGCG concentration in the blood The smaller the particle size of green tea
powder has a higher the extraction rate in EGCG12 Agree with above resultsthe EGCG extraction rate of Matcha
is 137 times higher than that of traditional green tea13
Caffeine and tea polyphenols are believed to be bitterness in tea infusion14 Water soluble sugar can alleviate
the bitterness The contents of soluble sugar increased with the decreases of green tea powder particle sizewhich
helped to reduce the bitterness of green tea powder Many investigations indicated superfine grinding is helpful to
 408 Journal of Tea 39

improve the polysaccharide extraction15 The extraction rate of polysaccharide in fine superfine green tea powder
in small particle size increased by 100-150% compared with raw materials But the result showed no significant
difference in the contents of total free amino acids and theanine in the superfine green tea powder16
3 Health function of superfine green tea powder
An anti-clastogenic effect of micrometer powder of green tea powder was evaluated by using a chromosomal
aberration assay in mice testicular cells The results indicated that green tea powder showed a significant capability
to decrease the incidence of MMC-induced chromosomal aberrations in spermatocytes by 38 4% The special
selenium-enriched green tea powder had the highest inhibition rate by 73 1% 16 In additiongreen tea powder
could enhance the activity of glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase in the serum and liver Green tea
powder has certain control effect to hepato cellular carcinoma and its complications A research was carried out by
feeding mice with fodder containing 2% of green tea powder and the result showed tumor volume and weight
decreased significantly and the amount of fecal bile acid and cholesterol in mice increased significantly which
helped to control endogenous hyperlipidemia caused by liver cancer17 Green tea powder can inhibit triglyceride
accumulation in mice fat cells and promote the decomposition of fat granule18 It is possible for human body to
prevent obesity by consuming green tea powder Consuming green tea powder could also be helpful to improve the
bioavailability of green tea19
Actuallythe superfine green tea powder preserved the most active components of tea materials Tea
polyphenols could eliminate free radicalsinhibit the activity of lipoxygenase and lipid peroxidation and improve the
activity of human body metabolic enzyme20 Tea polyphenols inhibited smooth muscle cell from invading the
arterial vascular walls to protect the arteries and inhibit the formation of blood vessels in tumor so that the cancer
cells couldn't get nutrition from the outside world Tea polyphenols can inhibit the activity of metalloproteinases to
prevent cancer cell spreading2122 and the activity of amylase and sucrase in the digestive tract of mice and reduce
glucose uptake23 Tea polyphenols can repair dopaminergic cells as a result of drugs or age and reduce the content
of superoxide dismutase sod and catalase in nerve cell and their catalytic activity24 Calcium binding with
caffine is hard for human body to absorb But tea polyphenols bind with caffeine so that human body can absorb
more free calcium to prevent osteoporosis25
Tea polysaccharide has powerful antioxidant properties and regulates blood sugar Tea polysaccharide could
obviously relieve diabetes symptoms in mice and significantly reduce the levels of fasting glucose There is a certain
dose-response relationship of tea polysaccharide with the levels of fasting glucose Tea polysaccharide significantly
increased SOD and GSH-Px activity and decrease MDA content in mice liver26
Caffeine is a stimulant on the central nervous with a refreshing effect The caffeine in tea is bound with tea
polyphenols mostly and is different from the free caffeine on physiological function Evaluation on the safety of
caffine was carried out that In the right doses caffeine has no teratogeniccarcinogenic and mutagenic effects to
human body The results of many animals and in vitro cell model test show that theanine has a variety of
physiological functions such as antitumor27protecting nerve cells28sedation29enhance memory function30
The mineral elements such as phosphoruspotassiumcalciummagnesiummanganesealuminum and sulfur
in tea are required for human health Some of them are abundant The fluorine content in tea is much higher than
other plants If drink three cups of tea about 10 g tea / cup the mineral elements obtained from the tea is
equivalent to 5-20% of the mineral elements daily demanded The mineral elements contained in some tea can even
meet the daily demand of human body31
4 Application of green tea powder in food industry
Superfine powder keeps the nature properties of green tea and possesses higher solubilitydispersibility and
flowabilitywhich facilitate better digestion Based on these propertiesthe superfine green tea powders were
widely used in food products
4 Pan HB et al / Superfine green tea powder and its application 409

4 1 Application of green tea powder in milk and dairy products

Liquid milk and milk products to which add a certain amount of green tea powder become more stable and has
a rich tea fragrance It is hard for liquid milk and milk products to condense During processing green tea powder
can effectively shorten the curd time and enhance curd strength during solid milk and dairy products processing
which effectively improves the quality of these products Tea fragrance can also mask the objectionable odor of milk
and dairy products At presentgreen tea powder is mainly added to yoghurt and cheese
The superfine green tea powders are mainly added to yoghurt and cheese The using of superfine green tea
powder of 500 mesh at 2% in yogurt got a light green colorsmooth and fine curd with fine tea and milk
fragrance32 Soy-cheeses with superfine green tea powder at 0 5% 1 0% 2 0% and 3 0% were evaluated by
Liu et al The addition of superfine green tea powder at 1% eliminated the beany flavor and strengthened the curd
strength with a short coagulation time33 Tea perfume can mask the smell of soybean milk so that soymilk content
will increase contributing to enhancing the taste of the product
4 2 Application of green tea powder in frozen drinks
Green tea powder can improve the quality of frozen drinks and has many functions of relieving heat and quell
thirstlosing weight healthily and preventing dental caries and so on The color of green tea powder is natural and
it's ok to substitute green tea powder for green preservative for pigment Green tea powder is applied in ice cream
Ice cream with superfine green tea powder at 0 8% 1 2% 1 5% 1 75% and 2 0% were evaluated The
ice cream with the addition of superfine green tea powder at 1 2% is agreeable sweet and refreshing which combine
the characteristics of green tea powder and ice cream And superfine green tea powder is added to the ice cream
with viscosity fell slightly34
4 3 Application of green tea powder in bakery product
In the process of baking foodthe viscositytastetexture and storage characteristic of bakery product change
greatly for the high temperature Tea ingredients have great influence on the baking characteristics of wheat flour
and the quality of bakery product The right amount of superfine green tea powder can promote gluten in dough
formingreduce the dough formation time and enhance the stability of dough Superfine green tea powder can
significantly improve the phase transition temperature of the dough Pastry crust could keep brittleness for a long
time for phase change temperature rising caused by green tea powder
4 3 1 Application of green tea powder in bread
Green tea powder gives bread tea fragrance and improves the flavor and nutritional value The using of
superfine green tea powder at 3 0% enhance it's water binding capacity and keep it fresh to some extent35
4 3 2 Application of green tea powder in bean cake
If adding amount of green tea powder is more than 5% bean cake is roughand has a bitter taste of the tea
If adding amount of green tea powder is less than 3% bean cake with weak taste of tea is poor in flavor The bean
paste with superfine green tea powder at 3% 5% is best because of it's smooth surfacesoft palate and fragrant
taste36
4 3 3 Application of green tea powder in sponge cake
Sponge cake with superfine green tea powder at 10% 20% and 30% were evaluated No significantly
differences were showed among the adding amount at 10% 20% and control group without superfine green tea
powder The sponge cake with the adding amount at 30% tastes much bitter But sponge cake with green tea
powder has an increased resistance to oxidative stress and the ability to remove DPPH37
4 3 4 Application of green tea powder in cake
Cake with superfine green tea powder at 0 8% 1 0% 1 2% 1 4% and 1 6% were evaluated The color
of cake changes from yellow to green as the adding amount of green tea powder increases and the cake becomes dark
green with the adding amount of green tea powder at 1 4% The cake with the adding amount of green tea powder
 410 Journal of Tea 39

at 1 6% was roughhard and bitter The cake with superfine green tea powder at 1 4% was fluffy and full of tea
flavor In addition some mildew appeared on the cake without green tea powder after 8 days at room temperature
But no mildew appeared on the cake with green tea powder after 10 days under the same condition It showed that
tea powder can inhibit the growth of microorganisms in the cake to extend the shelf life of cake significantly38
4 4 Application of green tea powder in meat and meat products
Meat and meat products are rich in oil and easy to oxidize placed in air for a long time Antioxidants are
commonly used to prevent the oxidation such as butyl hydroxy anisoldibutyl hydroxy toluene sodiumphytic acid
vitamin C and vitamin E Tea polyphenols in green tea powder has a stronger antioxidant ability than the popular
antioxidant Tea polyphenols can be widely used as antioxidant preservatives in grease3940meat and meat
productsaquatic products41fruits and vegetablescakes and milk productswhich general can extend product
shelf life by 100% -600% 42 In additionthe tea polyphenols can combine with bacteria protein to make its loss of
activity so tea polyphenols have has strong antibacterial properties Tea polyphenols inhibiting nearly hundred kinds
of bacteria shows a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity Superfine green tea powder contains polyphenols
accounting for 25% -35% Superfine green tea powder is a kind of natural preservatives which can extend the food
storage periodprevent fadingimprove the stability of cellulose and effectively protect various nutrients from loss
4 3 Application of green tea powder in fresh pork sausage
Sausage with superfine green tea powder at 0 5% 1 0% and 2 0% were evaluated Superfine green tea
powder greatly inhibited lipid oxidation and off-odor formation and the inhibition effect got stronger with the increase
of adding amount Therefore superfine green tea powder extended the shelf life of sausage 4 days at least43
Sausages with green tea powder at 0 5% were obviously the best in hardnessgumminesschewiness and
brittleness44
5 Conclusions
Green tea powder changed the traditional way of drinking tea to eat tea directly Green tea powder could provide
human body most of the benefits of whole green tea leaveswithout the loss of active ingredients which could improve
the efficiency of green tea Applied in foodgreen tea powder provides its coloraroma and taste The food with
green tea powder not only tastes delicious and looks great but also gets the healthy functions of green tea
In additionChina is one of the largest tea planting countries in the world The production of green tea powder
is not restricted by region and time and provides an effective way to improve the utilization of tea The application of
green tea powder in various fields may help economical increasing in tea industry

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China LQ12C20007
Scientific esearch Fund of Zhejiang Provincial Education department Y201226032 Zhejiang Provincial key
program for Tea Innovation and Technology group No 201150024

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