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Journal of Wood Science

Official Journal of the Japan Wood Research Society

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Reactivity of green tea catechins with formaldehyde

Journal of Wood Science volume 46, pages 334–338 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

In the reaction of green tea catechins with formaldehyde at room temperature (25°C), tea catechins were found to have reactivity. In particular, (-)-epicatechin gallate and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate, which have a galloyl moiety at the C-3 position, showed higher reactivity than (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, or (-)-epigallocatechin. Reactivity of various kinds of simple phenolic compounds and flavonoids with formaldehyde was also examined. Among these compounds, only phloroglucinol showed reactivity to the same degree as that of nongalloylated catechins. These results suggest that factors for reactivity with formaldehyde at room temperature may be the presence of a phloroglucinolic A-ring structure and the absence of the electron-attractive group such as a carbonyl group in Cring. The comparison of the reactivity of 3-O-acylated catechins with that of 3-O-galloylated catechins indicated that only a galloyl group effectively enhanced reactivity with formaldehyde.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Food Research Laboratories, Mitsui Norin Co., 223-1 Miyabara, 426-0133, Fujieda, Japan

    Akiko Takagaki, Katsuhiko Fukai, Fumio Nanjo & Yukihiko Hara

Authors
  1. Akiko Takagaki
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  2. Katsuhiko Fukai
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  3. Fumio Nanjo
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  4. Yukihiko Hara
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Correspondence to Fumio Nanjo.

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Takagaki, A., Fukai, K., Nanjo, F. et al. Reactivity of green tea catechins with formaldehyde. J Wood Sci 46, 334–338 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00766227

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00766227

Key words

  • Tea catechins
  • Formaldehyde
  • Flavonoid
  • Volatile organic compounds (VOC)
  • Formaldehyde scavenger