Development Of Lotus Green Tea Based On Interaction Of Active Components

Lotus leaf,belonging to Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn,is rich in various functional ingredients.Tea,a national drink in China,has an attractive taste and flavor with various health benefits.Recently,it has shown that the health effects of the combination of natural ingredients are better than those of the single compound.Based on this together with the theory of Chinese herbal medicine,we assumed that there may be certain synergic effects between the bioactive ingredients of lotus leaf and the compound in green tea,which may enhance the health effect of Nuciferine in lotus leaf.By using Caco-2 cell transportation model and SD rats’intragastric experiments,it is found that nuciferine and EGCG,the major bioactive components in lotus leaf and tea respectively,have interaction both in vitro and in vivo absorptions.Furthermore,a product from the blending of lotus leaf and green tea were optimized based on sensory evaluation.The main foundings are as follows:1.In the Caco-2 monolayer cell transport model,it has showed that nuciferine（400μM） alone was passive diffusion with medium absorption capacity,and the main efflux protein MRP2 was involved in its efflux.When co-treated with EGCG（50μM）,its transport way still was passive diffusion.However,the expression of MRP2 was inhibited by EGCG.Moreover,EGCG（50μM）is active efflux with poor absorptive capacity due to the involvement of MRP2 and P-gp.2.The results from intragastric administration in SD rats has showed that the plasma pharmacokinetic parameters of nuciferine（20mg/kg）as T_max（h）,t_1/2（min）,C^-1_{max（ng.m L）},MRT_INF（min）and AUC^-1_{0-t（μg·min·m L）}are 1.17±0.50,386.43±84.22,1199.06±322.69,400.75±196.35 and 417.99±68.62,respectively.When co-treated with EGCG（350 mg/kg）,its AUC_0-tin plasma,represented the degree of absorption,significantly increased to657.40±60.65μg·min·m L^-1,which is 157.3%of those in the treatment of nuciferine alone.It is indicated that EGCG promote the absorption of nuciferine in rats.Meanwhile,nuciferine significantly accelerated the absorption of EGCG,the T_max（h）of EGCG has shortened to 0.29±0.13 from 0.57±0.43 compared to the treatment of EGCG alone.3.A product of lotus leaf blending with green tea was developed.Firstly,it has found that the rolling process in lotus leaf manufacturing is crucial to the quality of final product.The product infusions have a bright yellowish-green color with a fried rice-like flavor.It has a full-body taste with a distinctive sweetness.When it was blended with green tea,its optimal blending ratio is 1:1.This blending product has a uniform and harmonious appearance.The infusion color is bright yellowish-green,with a complex chestnut-like and floral-like fragrance.It has a mellow taste with sweet after-taste.