A team of Chinese scientists has successfully transformed discarded tea residues from green tea beverage production into valuable bioactive compounds. The study, published in the Journal of Food Measurement and Characterization, reports the isolation and physicochemical characterization of two polysaccharide conjugates extracted using alkaline treatment.
The researchers extracted two distinct fractions—TPC-A2 and TPC-A4—using 2% and 4% sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO₃). TPC-A2 was a single-component polysaccharide with a molecular weight of 2.42 × 10⁶ Da, while TPC-A4 comprised two components with molecular weights of 3.88 × 10⁶ Da and 1.54 × 10⁶ Da. Both fractions were found to be acidic polysaccharide conjugates, exhibiting negative zeta potential values under varying pH conditions.
Chemical analysis showed that TPC-A2 contained 16 amino acids and TPC-A4 contained 12, though their protein segments were unable to bind with Coomassie Brilliant Blue dye—suggesting that polysaccharide chains may shield protein binding sites. Spectroscopic analysis revealed α-helix structural features in TPC-A2 but none in TPC-A4, indicating structural alterations under higher alkali concentration.
Notably, both TPC-A2 and TPC-A4 displayed strong hygroscopicity, absorbing over 160% of their dry weight in moisture at high relative humidity. This property suggests potential applications in food preservation, biopolymers, and moisture-control materials.
The authors propose that alkaline extraction could be a sustainable route for recovering high-value biopolymers from tea processing waste—enhancing the circular economy of the tea industry while reducing environmental burden.
Reference
Huang, Y., Li, X., Liu, Y., Zhao, Y., Wu, Z., Dai, Y., Huang, X., & Ying, M. (2025). Characterization of polysaccharide conjugates extracted with alkali from tea residues—the byproducts of green tea beverage manufacturing. Journal of Food Measurement and Characterization. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11694-025-03672-1
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