An Interesting Compound found in Green Tea

Green tea is more than just a tasty beverage. It also has a number of compounds with potential health benefits. For example, catechins found in tea are known antioxidants. Another such interesting compound is L-theanine. It is a psychoactive compound and is believed to exhibit various beneficial effects on the brain. These may include increased alertness, decreased anxiety, and general sense of well-being.

                It is a polar compound though and may be difficult to analyze by reversed phase chromatography. With the Cogent Diamond Hydride 2.o™ column, it can be well-retained using an Aqueous Normal Phase approach. There are not many other polar compounds in green tea (catechins are fairly hydrophobic), so you can obtain a nice L-theanine peak which is well-separated from the others.

                We estimated L-theanine content in a typical home-brewed green tea sample using this column and found concentrations consistent with those reported in the literature (around 10 mg/L). See the full study for more information!