A study of the antioxidant and caffeine content in tea — Presentation Detail — Celebration of Scholars

Instructions

Student presentations must have a faculty sponsor.

Abstracts must include a title and a description of the research, scholarship, or creative work. The description should be 150-225 words in length and constructed in a format or style appropriate for the presenter’s discipline.

The following points should be addressed within the selected format or style for the abstract:

A clear statement of the problem or question you pursued, or the scholarly goal or creative theme achieved in your work.
A brief comment about the significance or uniqueness of the work.
A clear description of the methods used to achieve the purpose or goals for the work.
A statement of the conclusions, results, outcomes, or recommendations, or if the work is still in progress, the results you expect to report at the event.

Presenter photographs should be head and shoulder shots comparable to passport photos.

Additional Information

More information is available at carthage.edu/celebration-scholars/. The following are members of the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Committee who are eager to listen to ideas and answer questions:

Jun Wang
Kim Instenes
John Kirk
Nora Nickels
Andrew Pustina
James Ripley

A study of the antioxidant and caffeine content in tea

Name: Amanda Ehlert
Major: Neuroscience/Chemistry/Psychology
Hometown: Mt. Prospect
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research

Name: Cara Hull
Major: Biology
Hometown: Colby
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research

Name: Laura Krings
Major: Chemistry/Biology
Hometown: Nekoosa
Faculty Sponsor:
Other Sponsors:
Type of research: Independent research

Abstract

Antioxidants are thought to be beneficial to health because they might reduce the oxidation of free radicals that damage cells. Because tea is believed to have health benefits derived from antioxidants, this study set out to explore the antioxidant content in different types of teas, including white, green, oolong, black, and puer. We also measured the content of caffeine, a widely appreciated psychoactive compound, to determine its relationship to tea type. Since tea contains antioxidants in the form of phenols, we began by examining the phenolic content of 10 different teas using the Folin-Ciocalteu assay. We found that green teas consistently exhibited the highest antioxidant content while black, oolong and puer teas had lower but variable levels. The white teas contained the lowest phenolic content. To explore any possible change in phenolic content in brewed tea over time, teas were prepared and allowed to rest at ambient temperature for periods up to 24 hours. It was expected that phenolic compounds in the teas would be oxidized to form larger polyphenols, therefore decreasing the total antioxidant content over time. Interestingly, we found that these measures did not change across our time points. To determine the major polyphenolic catechin compounds and caffeine content in each tea, samples were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). These studies allow us to better understand the relationship between tea processing and possible sensory and medicinal attributes.

Poster file