Evaluation of the hypolipemic property of Camellia sinensis var. ptilophylla on postprandial hypertriglyceridemia

A naturally decaffeinated tea, Camellia sinensis var. ptilophylla (cocoa tea), has long been popular in southern China as a healthy beverage. Our experiments indicate that a single oral administration of 500 mg/kg of cocoa tea extract suppresses increases in plasma triacylgycerol (TG) levels when fed with 5 mL/kg of olive or lard oil in mice and that the inhibition rates are 22.9% and 31.5%, respectively, compared with controls. Under the same condition, cocoa tea extract did not affect the level of plasma free fatty acid. Likewise, the extract reduced the lymphatic absorption of lipids at 250 and 500 mg/kg. Also, cocoa tea extract and polyphenols isolated from cocoa tea inhibit pancreatic lipase. These findings suggest that cocoa tea has hypolipemic activity, which may be due to the suppression of digestive lipase activity by the polyphenols contained within the tea.