Abstract: The contents of soluble sugars, catechins and free amino acids in tea flowers from Camellia sinensis were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results showed that tea flowers contained 216.85 mg/g soluble free sugars. Meanwhile, the contents of soluble sugars in corolla, stamen and pistil (F-1) and receptacle, sepal and pedicel (F-2) were 250.945 mg/g and 112.65 mg/g, respectively. Tea flowers contained 37.03 mg/g catechins. In addition, the content of catechins in F-2 was 46.90 mg/g, which was higher than that in F-1 (30.88 mg/g). Tea flower contained 16 kinds of free amino acids, and the content of total free amino acids was 10.87 mg/g. Although only 13 kinds of free amino acids were detected in F-2, its content (16.47 mg/g) was notably higher than that in F-1 (10.59 mg/g).

Key words: tea flower, soluble sugar, tea catechins, free amino acid, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)