Abstract
This paper was investigated to elucidate the nitrite-scavenging action as one of biological actions of green tea extracts. Green tea extracts exhibited remarkable nitrite-scavenging action. Among the green tea extracts, steamed green tea showed higher nitrite-scavenging action than roasted green tea. Nitrite-savenging actions of gren tea extracts were hardly influenced until three times extraction with hot water. Furthermore , the nitirte-scavenging action of green tea extracts showed ph dependent , highest at pH 1.2 and lowest at pH 6.0. The nitrite -scavenging rate in sample extracts /amine /nitrite systems exhibited faster than that in amine/nitrite systems. In order to screen the nitirte-scavenging factors, samples extracts were fractionated with methanol. in both samples, methanol-soluble fractions possessed greater nitrite-scavenging action than methanol-insoluble fractions .The nitrite-scavenging action of methanol-soluble fractions increased with proportion to absorbance at 420nm and at 280nm, while that of green tea extracts increased with the contents of total phenols and absorbance at 280nm.