[Determination of polyphenols in tea by a new method spectrophotometry]

The authors developed a method for the determination of tea polyphenols. Phenanthroline is a sensitive regent for the determination of Fe2+, it can react with Fe2+ to form an orange complex in acidic solution. A new spectrophotometric method was proposed for the determination of tea polyphenols in tea samples based on that tea polyphenols could react with Fe3+ to produce Fe2+, and the orange complex would be formed by the reaction of Fe2+ with Phenanthroline in acidic solution. In the presence of positive iron surfactant CTMAB, the sensitivity of chromogenic reaction was improved. The work focused on the optimizing of experiment conditions such as wavelength of determination, buffer solution, surfactant, and the react time etc. At the maximum absorption wavelength of 510 nm, the apparent molar absorptivity was 0.88 x 10(5) L x mol(-1) x cm(-1), Beer's law was obeyed in the range of 4.00 to 32.00 microg x mL(-1) Polyphenols. The detection limit was 2.0 microg x mL(-1). This method was applied to the determination of polyphenols in tea samples with satisfactory results. The method has three merits, namely high level of accuracy and sensitivity, simplicity, and simple equipment.