An Analysis of the Antioxidant Activity of Fuding White Tea
As people's living standards rise day by day, everyone pays more and more attention to health. The word "antioxidant" is mentioned frequently, but do you really understand it?
So-called antioxidant activity is, in essence, the elimination of free radicals in the body. Because the human body is in constant contact with the outside world, including breathing (oxidation reactions), external pollution, radiation exposure and other factors, free radicals are continuously produced within the body.
Smoking, air pollution, water pollution, radiation, pesticides, high life stress, excessive exercise and so on - these conditions that increase the concentration of free radicals are called oxidative stress. The greater the oxidative stress, the higher the concentration of free radicals in the body.
The body's antioxidant substances are partly synthesized by the body itself and partly supplied by food. However, with social development, there are more and more factors in life that increase the concentration of free radicals in the body, and the body's own antioxidant system faces a crisis of being insufficient. At this point, we usually need external food to provide antioxidants.
The Importance of Antioxidants
More and more research shows that antioxidant activity is an important step in preventing aging and many health problems. If excess oxidative free radicals can be eliminated, many free radical-induced and aging-related diseases can be prevented.
Image from the Chanel official website
When it comes to antioxidant and anti-aging, one cannot fail to mention the Chanel No. 10 Lotion that the luxury cosmetics brand Chanel launched with great fanfare this year, developed for naturally or temporarily sensitive skin.
Image from the Chanel official website
The core ingredient of the formula is Silver Needle (Baihao Yinzhen), which has a triple effect and is the rarest and most precious variety of white tea. Only the tender leaf buds are selected, picked entirely by hand, taking ten days, and dried on racks using traditional methods. Chanel's research department extracts from it extraordinary active ingredients rich in theanine and polyphenols. In vitro tests show that it has a triple effect:
1 Soothing: regulates the production of neurotrophic factors (NGF synthesis reduced by 75%), restoring sensory perception.
2 Calming: blocks free radicals, protecting the skin from oxidative stress.
3 Strengthening: promotes three key proteins that affect keratinocyte differentiation (keratin, filaggrin, loricrin), consolidating the skin's barrier function.
The above content comes from Sohu Fashion
So what does the scientific analysis of the antioxidant activity of white tea look like?
Researcher Lin Zhi of the Tea Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences conducted preliminary exploration into the antioxidant activity of Fuding white tea.
The experiment mainly used four methods to detect the antioxidant activity of white tea: the ferric ion reducing method (FRAP method), DPPH free radical scavenging activity, APTS free radical scavenging activity, and oxygen free radical scavenging activity.
Summary of the research
1: Overall, the antioxidant activity of Silver Needle (Baihao Yinzhen) is significantly higher than that of White Peony (Baimudan) and Shoumei, while there is no significant difference between White Peony and Shoumei.
2: There is no significant difference in antioxidant activity among Silver Needle, White Peony and Shoumei from different years.
What is the relationship between the mass concentration of the main chemical components in white tea infusion and its antioxidant activity?
The patterns of the tea infusion differ from those of the dry tea, which is related to the brewing process and method. However, certain patterns of antioxidant activity can still be drawn from the analysis of the infusion's components.
Summary of the research
The antioxidant activity of white tea infusion has a certain correlation with the total amount of tea polyphenols, the total amount of catechins, the total amount of flavonoids and the content of organic acids.
Therefore, whether you love beauty or pursue health, you should drink Fuding white tea regularly. Of course, Silver Needle (Baihao Yinzhen) is an even better choice.