A Review on the Extraction, Bioactivity, and Application of Tea Polysaccharides

Abstract

Tea is a non-alcoholic drink containing various active ingredients, including tea polysaccharides (TPSs). TPSs have various biological activities, such as antioxidant, anti-tumor, hypoglycemic, and anti-cancer activities. However, TPSs have a complex composition, which significantly limits the extraction and isolation methods, thus limiting their application. This paper provides insight into the composition, methodological techniques for isolation and extraction of the components, biological activities, and functions of TPSs, as well as their application prospects.

Comparison of different extraction methods of active ingredients of Chinese medicine and natural products

“…At present, the classical extraction methods of CM and natural products mainly include decoction [25,26], maceration [27][28][29], reflux [30,31], percolation [21], steam distillation [32] and sublimation [33,34]. With the development of modern separation science and equipment, some new technologies such as ultrasonic waveassisted extraction (UAE) [35][36][37][38], microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) [39][40][41][42], supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) [43][44][45][46][47], enzyme-assisted extraction (EAE) [48,23,49], membrane separation extraction (MSE) [50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57], ultrafine grinding technology (UGT) [58][59][60][61][62][63][64], microporous resin adsorption technology (MRAT) [65][66][67][68]…”

“…At present, the classical extraction methods of CM and natural products mainly include decoction [25, 26], maceration [27–29], reflux [30, 31], percolation [21], steam distillation [32] and sublimation [33, 34]. With the development of modern separation science and equipment, some new technologies such as ultrasonic wave‐assisted extraction (UAE) [35–38], microwave‐assisted extraction (MAE) [39–42], supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) [43–47], enzyme‐assisted extraction (EAE) [48, 23, 49], membrane separation extraction (MSE) [50–57], ultrafine grinding technology (UGT) [58–64], microporous resin adsorption technology (MRAT) [65–70], semi‐bionic extraction (SBE) [71, 72], immune selective extraction (ISE) [73–77], molecular‐distillation technology [78–82], molecularly‐imprinted polymer extraction (MIPE) [83–88], UPE [89–93], liquid chromatographic extraction (LCE) [94–99], solid‐phase extraction (SPE) [100–107], liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) [108–112], etc.…”

“…It is suitable for the extraction of valuable medicine, and can also be used for the extraction of medicine with low content of active ingredients. It can be applied to heat‐sensitive components [21], but it is not suitable for medicine with fresh, easy expansion and no tissue structure. In addition, the method often uses high‐concentration ethanol or liquor as a solvent, which is easy to cause solvent volatilization loss and long‐time consumption.…”

“…In addition, the summary of various extraction technologies is not comprehensive enough. For example, review on the extraction of Plant essential oil [11], Lycium barbarum polysaccharides [12], Lipids in plant and animal cells [13], Carotenoids [14], Astaxanthin in microorganisms [15], Anthocyanin in Plant cells [16], Hesperidin in plant [17], Capsaicin [18], Rutin in plant [19], Artemisinin [20], Tea polysaccharides [21], Lycopersene [22], chitin and chitosan [23]. A few (e.g., Zhang et al.)…”

“…Lipids in plant and animal cells [13], Carotenoids [14], Astaxanthin in microorganisms [15], Anthocyanin in Plant cells [16], Hesperidin in plant [17], Capsaicin [18], Rutin in plant [19], Artemisinin [20], Tea polysaccharides [21], Lycopersene [22], chitin and chitosan [23]. A few (e.g., Zhang et al) have summarized various separation techniques applied in the extraction of traditional CM and natural products [24], but the classification was different from our work.…”