Detection of Phenolic Compounds in Green and Black Teas using a Simple Carbon Electrode

In recent years, the consumption of green tea and black tea worldwide has gained importance in nutrition and preventive medicine since it is associated with different health improvements related to the polyphenols' antioxidant action [1 - 3]. This fact has motivated the use of different characterization techniques to detect and quantify tea's polyphenol content. In this work, green and black tea's electrochemical characterization was carried out using a cyclic voltammetry technique using a glassy carbon as a working electrode in a standard three-electrode cell. From the voltammetric records obtained, it was possible to perform the carbon electrode calibration model with R
²
> 0.99 and a preliminary Principal Component Analysis that reveals that the electrochemical signals of green and black tea could be used to classify both teas by selecting some potentials of oxidation and reduction mainly associated with polyphenolic compounds they contain.