Effect of acute consumption of oolong tea on antioxidant parameters in healthy individuals

We evaluated the ability of a ready-to-drink oolong tea (OOL) to modulate plasma antioxidant status in healthy subjects, compared to a placebo drink (PLA) without oolong extract but with ascorbic acid. In vitro, ascorbic acid was the only contributor to ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and total radical-trapping antioxidant parameter (TRAP) assay of PLA. Ascorbic acid contributed 16.5% and 9.7% of the antioxidant capacity of OOL. In vivo, ingestion of 500 mL of OOL significantly increased plasma TRAP at 30 min and 1 h, compared to 500 mL of PLA, which was ineffective. Plasma FRAP significantly increased at 1, 2 and 4 h for OOL and at 2 h for PLA. Both PLA and OOL significantly increased urinary FRAP over 0–5 h. Urinary FRAP levels went back to baseline at 5 h for PLA tea and remained higher for OOL tea in the interval time 5–12 h (p < 0.01). OOL represents a dietary source of antioxidants able to modulate antioxidant status in humans.