降低茶叶咖啡碱的研究进展

咖啡碱(1,3,7-三甲基黄嘌呤)是茶叶中嘌呤碱的主体成份,摄入过量的咖啡碱会对人体产生短期的负面作用,也限制了以保健和治疗为目的茶和茶制品的摄入剂量.近20年来,国内外系统研究了茶叶脱除咖啡碱技术,开发了溶剂萃取法、热水脱除法、超临界CO_2萃取法等理化方法,并开始培育低咖啡碱茶树品种等,尤其是通过基因工程创造低咖啡碱茶叶新材料的分子育种呼之欲出.本文是对该领域的一个综述和展望.

Research Progress for Tea Decaffeination

Caffeine (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine) is the major ingredient of purine alkaloids in tea (Camellia sinensis). Excess taking-up of caffeine causes short-time negative effects, and limits the ingestion dosages of tea and its derivatives targeted for health promotion or illness treatments. In the past 20 years, the techniques involved in tea decaffeination have been studied abroad and home. Many physical and chemical methods have been created, e.g. solvent extraction, hot-water-based elimination and supercritical CO_2 extraction. Traditional breeding is also adopted to lower the caffeine contents. In particular, genetic engineering is now in the pipeline for molecular breeding of decaffeinated tea. This is a review and prospect of this domain.