Journal
PHYTOCHEMISTRY
Volume 67, Issue 11, Pages 1120-1126Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2006.04.002
Keywords
Camellia sinensis; water deficit; antioxidants; flavonoids; flavan-3-ols; proanthocyanidins; epicatechin; epigallocatechin gallate; quinones
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(-)-Epicatechin (EC) and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), two major tea flavan-3-ols, have received attention in food science and biomedicine because of their potent antioxidant properties. In plants, flavan-3-ols serve as proanthocyanidin (PA) building blocks, and although both monomeric flavan-3-ols and PAs show antioxidant activity in vitro, their antioxidant function in vivo remains unclear. In the present study, EC qui:none (ECQ) and EGCG quinone (EGCGQ), the oxidation products of EC and EGCG, increased up to 100- and 30-fold, respectively, in tea plants exposed to 19 days of water deficit. Oxidation of EC and EGCG preceded PAs accumulation in leaves, which increased from 35 to 53 mg gDW(-1) after 26 days of water deficit. Aside from the role monomeric flavan-3-ols may play in PAs biosynthesis, formation of ECQ and EGCGQ strongly negatively correlated with the extent of lipid peroxidation in leaves, thus supporting a protective role for these compounds in drought-stressed plants. Besides demonstrating flavonoid accumulation in drought-stressed tea plants, we show for the first time that EC and EGCG are oxidized to their respective quinones in plants in vivo. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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