Antioxidative activity of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-(3″-O-methyl)gallate isolated from fresh tea leaf and preliminary results on its biological activity.

Antioxidative activity of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-(3″-O-methyl)gallate (catechin e) was examined. Catechin e showed a strong antioxidative activity. A preliminary test using rat cancer cells suggests that catechin e also has a strong cytotoxic activity. Among tested catechins, only catechin e has strong activity for both.