Identification of two teaghrelins in Shy-jih-chuen oolong tea

Teaghrelins are unique acylated flavonoid tetraglycosides originally identified in Chin-shin oolong tea, and proposed to be potential oral analogs of ghrelin. Two acylated flavonoid tetraglycosides were isolated from Shy-jih-chuen oolong tea, and their chemical structures were determined to be quercetin and kaempferol 3-O-[alpha-L-arabinopyranosyl(1 -> 3)][2-O-(E)-p-coumaroyl] [beta-D-glucopyranosyl(1 -> 3)-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl(1 -> 6)]-beta-D-glucoside. These two compounds were extremely similar to the two teaghrelins (teaghrelin-1 and teaghrelin-2) in Chin-shin oolong tea by simply replacing a glucopyranosyl group with an arabinopyranosyl group. Molecular modeling showed that the two putative teaghrelins identified in Shy-jih-chuen docked to and interacted with the ghrelin receptor as well as teaghrelin-1 and teaghrelin-2. Mixture of these two putative teaghrelins was shown to enhance the release of growth hormone from primary anterior pituitary cells of rats. The results suggest that two teaghrelins, named teaghrelin-3 and teaghrelin-4, are present in Shy-jih-chuen oolong tea and possess biological activities analogous to teaghrelins in Chin-shin oolong tea. Practical applications According to this study, teaghrelin-3 and teaghrelin-4 may be regarded as active ingredients for the quality control of Shy-jih-chuen oolong tea. The content of teaghrelins may serve as a key factor for the farmers to select new tea plants in their next propagation of Shy-jih-chuen cultivar. Crude water extract of Shy-jih-chuen oolong tea containing teaghrelins is considered to be an adequate food supplement or additive in functional food products.