Influence of extraction conditions on polyphenols content and cream constituents in black tea extracts

Summary Increase in water‐to‐tea ratio and extraction time increased polyphenols recovery as well as extractable‐solids‐yield (ESY) in black tea extracts. Polyphenols content‐in‐extracted solids (PES) used as a tea quality parameter, was significantly higher at 50:1 water‐to‐tea ratio and favourably improved only up to 60 min. Extending the extraction period beyond 40 min degraded theaflavins (TF) and also affected the recovery of major catechins. Although tea cream content showed a decrease with increase in water‐to‐tea ratio, the content was nearly the same (1.80–1.89%) in all these extracts when measured at a uniform 0.5% solids concentration. The extraction conditions displayed a similar influence on the other tea cream components, namely, caffeine, calcium, pectin and protein. The conditions optimised (50:1 water‐to‐tea ratio and 40 min) based on higher PES and TF/TR ratio gave a maximum PES of 0.566 g g −1 and TF of 0.46% (black tea) in the extract.