[Contents of aluminum and manganese in tea leaves and tea infusions]

We measured the contents of aluminum and manganese in tea leaves and tea infusions by means of various standardized infusion conditions, and by using flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry, and investigated the influence of infusion conditions on the elution of aluminum and manganese into the tea infusions. Furthermore, we tried to estimate the daily intake of aluminum and manganese due to drinking tea infusions. The content of aluminum in tea leaves was 1420 micrograms/g in case of wulong tea, 576 micrograms/g in black tea, and 520 micrograms/g in green tea. The content of manganese was 1440 micrograms/g in the case of wulong tea, 670 micrograms/g in green tea, and 535 micrograms/g in black tea. The concentration of aluminum in tea infusions was 1.49-5.58 micrograms/ml in wulong tea, 0.90-4.92 micrograms/ml in green tea, and 0.64-4.35 micrograms/ml in black tea. The concentration of manganese was 1.75-6.67 micrograms/ml in green tea, 0.94-4.04 micrograms/ml in wulong tea, and 0.78-3.24 micrograms/ml in black tea. The ratio of the molar concentration of aluminum to that of manganese was 1-2:1 in tea leaves, and 1-5:1 in tea infusions. In the case of elevated-temperature infusion, increases of the concentrations of aluminum and manganese in tea infusions were recognized. By repeating infusion three times according to the standard method for ingredient analysis of food, 18-29% of the total content of aluminum in tea leaves was eluted, and 12-29% of the total content of manganese was eluted.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)