Abstract: A high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed for the simultaneous determination of epicatechin (EC), catechin (C), epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), epicatechin gallate (ECG) and epigallocatechin (EGC) in Wuzhishan green tea. The separation was performed on a HIQ SIL C18 V column (250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm) using gradient elution with acetonitrile-1.5% acetic acid as the mobile phase. The sample was detected by an UV detector at 280 nm, flow rate was 1.0 mL·min^-1, the sample volume was 10 μL and column temperature was 35℃. Under the optimized conditions, there was good linearity between the logarithm values and the peak areas of EC, C, EGCG, ECG and EGC in the ranges of 15-300, 10-200, 10-200, 20-400 and 10-200 μg·mL^-1, respectively. Recoveries of the five components were between 96.20% and 99.64%, the RSDs were between 1.12% and 2.24%. This method is simple, rapid, accurate and suitable for the quality control of green tea.

Key words: green tea, catechins, high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)