Antioxidant activity of Green Tea Fermented with Monascus pilosus

Green tea leaves were fermented for 15 and 30 days with Monascus pilosus which is known to produce functional statins (TMs), and the content of various biochemical constituents such as total polyphenol (TP), total flavonoid (TF), theaflavin, and thearubigin were analyzed and compared with that of nonfermented green tea (GT) and Pu-erh Chinese post-fermented tea (PU). In addition to the electron donating ability (EDA), ferric iron reducing power (FIRP), xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitory activity, superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activity, iron chelating activity (ICA) and hydrogen peroxide contents were also measured and compared with that of GT and PU. Content of TP and TF in the water and ethanol extracts in TMs were lower than those in GT and PU. Theaflavin and thearubigin contents of water and ethanol extracts in TMs were higher than those of GT. And, these components were increased depending on the period of fermentation. While, EDA and FIRP of TMs were lower than those of GT, XO inhibitory activity of TMs was higher than nonfermented tea. While, ICA of TMs was slightly higher than GT and PU, the content of hydrogen peroxide in TMs was markedly lower than GT. This results suggested that the green tea fermented by M. pilosus was valuable for oxidative stress-induced diseases by decreasing hydrogen peroxide, and forming theaflavins and thearubigins with functionality of genus Monascus.