Analysis of proanthocyanidins in tea samples I.LC-MS results

At least 12 proanthocyanidins could be identified in green tea samples by means of HPLC-MS and HPLC-DAD after a clean-up procedure including polyamide column chromatography. The fragmentation pattern under thermospray conditions is briefly discussed. Epiafzelechin gallate-epicatechin gallate (EAG-ECG), which has not been described before, was tentatively identified. Two different dimers with another MS-fragmentation pattern in black tea samples were tentatively identified as bisflavanols A and B.