Study on the Composition and Content of Advanced Glycation End-Products in Different Teas

NIU Li; SUN Mufang; JIANG Yongwen; ZHU Hongkai

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Journal of Tea Science ›› 2026, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (3) : 489-498.

Research Paper

Study on the Composition and Content of Advanced Glycation End-Products in Different Teas

NIU Li¹, SUN Mufang^2,*, JIANG Yongwen³, ZHU Hongkai^3,*

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Abstract

To clarify the content and composition of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in different types of tea, 13 AGEs derived from lysine and arginine in green tea, white tea, oolong tea, black tea, and dark tea were analyzed using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The results indicate that 9 AGEs were detected in all tea samples, arginine-derived methylglyoxal-hydroimidazolones (MG-Hs) being the predominant. The total AGEs contents in different tea typesfollowed the trend of green tea=white tea>dark tea>black tea>oolong tea (P<0.05). A high catechin content in tea did not effectively inhibit the formation of AGEs. Instead, they might serve as one of the contributing factors to elevated AGEs. This study aimed to characterize the overall profile of AGEs composition in tea, providing a comprehensive evaluation of protein thermal damage during tea processing.

Key words

lysine / arginine / α-dicarbonyl / AGEs / furosine / Maillard reaction

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NIU Li, SUN Mufang, JIANG Yongwen, ZHU Hongkai. Study on the Composition and Content of Advanced Glycation End-Products in Different Teas[J]. Journal of Tea Science. 2026, 46(3): 489-498

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