A novel way of separation and preparation noncaffeine tea polyphenols from green tea waste

A simple, clean and economical way of separation and preparation noncaffeine tea polyphenols from green tea waste in one-step by Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography was developed. 20% (v/v) ethanol solution was used for removing caffeine and other components in the first stepwise elution, and tea polyphenols was eluted with 60% (v/v) ethanol solution by using reversed flow in the second stepwise elution. The yield of tea polyphenols above 11% with the purity about 98% and the content of catechins more than 91%, and the content of caffeine in tea polyphenols have not been detected by high-performance liquid chromatography. The recovery of tea polyphenols by column chromatography were about 86%, and the stability of preparative way is very good. Compared with conventional extraction and decaffeination ways, this way has more excellent advantages, such as cheaper raw material, no toxic residues, higher yield, commercially feasible and environment friendly.