Compositional variation among black tea across geographies and their potential influence on endothelial nitric oxide and antioxidant activity.

Black tea (C. sinensis) consumption is well associated with enhanced endothelial function (EF) and reduced cardiovascular (CV) risk. This clinical end benefit is endorsed to flavonoids in tea. The black tea flavonoid composition varies across geographies and may impact its health benefits. Moreover, the underlying functional species and a precise working mechanism responsible for the observed health benefit also remain to be investigated. In this Article, we investigated the effect of black teas from various geographies (WoBTs) on different working mechanisms (antioxidant potential and endothelial function) proposed to influence certain risk factors of CVH, in vitro. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the antioxidant benefits are fairly influenced by majority of tea actives such as catechins, theaflavins, thearubigins, and phenolic acids, while NO potentiating effects are mainly regulated by catechins in black tea. The data also suggest that the net vascular function benefit of black tea is majorly influenced by NO enhancement, while mildly contributed by its antioxidant benefit.