Quantitative analysis of catechin, flavonoid, and saponin constituents in "tea flower", the flower buds of Camellia sinensis, from different regions in Taiwan.

Using the recently developed two analytical protocols, distributions were analyzed of five catechins (1-5), ten flavonoids (6-15), caffeine (16), and nine saponins (17-25) in 12 samples of flower buds of Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze, collected at different points in Taiwan. Characteristic tendencies with respect to the distribution of these constituents were observed according to the region of collection. Among the catechins, (-)-epigallocatechin 3-O-gallate (5) was the major constituent in all the samples. Notably, the content of 5 was higher in samples from the mountain regions in the middle and northern Taiwan than in samples from other regions. As for the principal flavonoids, the content of 10 was higher than that of 11 in most of the samples except those of Sijichun tea. For the saponin contents, the following trends were observed: (1) contents of chakasaponins I-III (17-19) were higher in samples from the mountain region in the middle and northern areas; and (2) contents of floratheasaponins A-F (20-25) were higher in the samples from central and southern areas.