Development of an objective measure of quality and commercial value of Japanese-styled green tea (Camellia L. sinensis): the Quality Index Tool

Krahe, James C.;Krahe, Michelle A.;Roach, Paul D.

Abstract

A novel approach to evaluate the commercial value of green tea products is explored in this paper. The green tea Quality Index Tool (QI-Tool) is based on high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), capable of identifying and understanding the constituents that are important to create superior consumer and commercially valuable green tea beverages in the Japanese-style. This tool will allow producers to better identify a product’s potential value within the various levels of green tea retail quality structure. Via the quantification of theanine, caffeine and the catechins: epicatechin (EC), epicatechin gallate (ECG), epigallocatchin (EGC), epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and gallocatechin gallate (GCG) within a green tea beverage, the QI-Tool provides categorisation of a product against the green tea market retail competitive set. This allows a better understanding of the product’s potential commercial value, as well as a comparison to other products within that market category. The QI-Tool is an alternative and promising method for objectively evaluating commercial value of green tea products using HPLC analysis.

Journal

Journal of Food Science and Technology

Publication Name

Journal of Food Science and Technology

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ISBN/ISSN

0975-8402

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Publisher

Springer

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DOI

10.1007/s13197-018-3210-2