Antioxidant Properties and Nutritional Composition of Matcha Green Tea

Matcha green tea (Camellia sinensis), which originates from Japan, is commonly considered as particularly beneficial to health. A large content of polyphenols, amino acids (mainly tannins) and caffeine potentially increase the antioxidant properties of the drink. The aim of the study was to determine the antioxidant potential and the content of substances with an antioxidant effect—vitamin C, total polyphenol content including flavonoids—in infusions made from Traditional Matcha (from the first and second harvests) and Daily Matcha (from the second and third harvests) at different temperatures. The infusions were made by pouring 100 mL of distilled water once at various temperatures (25 °C, 70 °C, 80 °C and 90 °C) over 1.75 g of the plant material. Matcha tea is characterized by a high level of antioxidant substances (flavonoids 1968.8 mg/L; polyphenols 1765.1 mg/L; vitamin C 44.8 mg/L) as well as antioxidant potential (41.2% DPPH (10× dilution); 6129.5 µM Fe(II)/dm(3) FRAP). The concentration of these compounds depends on the time at which the plant material was harvested as well as on the temperature of water used to prepare the infusions. For most parameters, the highest values were observed in infusions prepared at 90 °C and from the daily Matcha.