Green Tea Extract
Green tea extract is a concentrate made from the unfermented leaves of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis. The leaf is extracted with hot water and/or food-grade ethanol, then concentrated, often decaffeinated, and spray-dried to a powder. Suppliers sell it against a specification for total polyphenols, total catechins or epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), usually with a stated caffeine maximum.
Suppliers sell different products under the same name. Specify the one you need.
Powder standardized to a minimum total polyphenol percentage, with catechin and EGCG levels listed on the specification sheet. The most common grade for capsules and tablets.
Further purified fractions in which EGCG makes up most of the material. Used when a formulation needs a tightly controlled EGCG amount per serving.
Extract with caffeine removed to a stated maximum, confirmed by HPLC. Decaffeination may use water, food-grade solvents or supercritical CO2 depending on the producer.
Extract specified by its natural caffeine content, sold to beverage formulators who label caffeine per serving.
Alcohol-free liquid extracts in water, glycerin, propylene glycol or butylene glycol, used in beverages, tinctures and cosmetic formulations.
Extract made from certified organic tea leaf, typically with water extraction and no carrier, sold with an organic certificate per lot.
Compare each result with your own specification when the lot arrives.
Store in sealed, light-resistant packaging in a cool, dry place. Powdered extracts pick up moisture, and catechins degrade with heat, humidity, light and oxygen, which can show up as darkening and a falling EGCG assay. Shelf life or a retest date comes from the supplier's COA; re-assay stock that has passed its retest date or sat open before using it.
Catechin and EGCG content varies with leaf grade, harvest and extraction batch, so record each lot's assay and calculate EGCG and caffeine per serving from the actual COA rather than the minimum spec. Non-decaf grades also vary in caffeine from lot to lot. Rotate stock FEFO and track retest dates, especially for opened containers.
Facts from regulators and standards bodies, each linked to its source.
Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/2340 added green tea extracts containing EGCG to Part B (restricted substances) of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006, limiting EGCG per daily portion of food.
Source: eur-lex.europa.eu (opens in a new tab)The same EU regulation requires foods containing these extracts to state the maximum number of portions per day and carry an intake warning on the label.
Source: eur-lex.europa.eu (opens in a new tab)FDA GRAS Notice GRN 772 (Kemin Industries, palmitoylated green tea catechins for use to slow oxidation in foods) closed on Dec 13, 2018 with a "no questions" letter.
Source: hfpappexternal.fda.gov (opens in a new tab)This is general information, not regulatory advice. Status differs by country and by how the ingredient is used, so check the rules for your product and market.
Manufacturers and distributors whose own websites say they sell it.
Manufacturer · Kerrville, TX
Sells it as PurTea
Applied Food Sciences is a Texas bulk ingredient company that sells branded botanical extracts, including green coffee, green tea, ginseng, ginger, turmeric, acerola and lion's mane, to food, drink and supplement makers only.
Manufacturer · Hauppauge, NY
US botanical extract manufacturer in New York whose catalog includes ashwagandha, elderberry, maca, lion’s mane and green tea extracts, with alcohol-free glycerin-based versions and standardized grades quoted to customer spec.
Manufacturer · Hyderabad, India
Botanic Healthcare is a Hyderabad, India, maker of standardized and organic herbal extracts, branded botanical ingredients and liposomal ingredient grades for supplement and food companies.
Manufacturer · Changsha, China
Hunan Nutramax is a plant extract producer in Changsha, China, best known for monk fruit (luo han guo), stevia and sweet tea extracts, that also offers a range of herbal extracts.
Manufacturer · Milan, Italy
Sells it as Greenselect Phytosome
Italian botanical extract manufacturer with production sites in Italy, France and India. Its Greenselect Phytosome is a decaffeinated green tea extract standardized for EGCG and combined with phospholipids.
Manufacturer · Vestenbergsgreuth, Germany
German tea and botanical ingredient group that makes green and black tea extracts, including at a tea extract plant in Hangzhou, China, largely for beverage and food customers.
Manufacturer · Yokkaichi, Japan
Sells it as Sunphenon
Japanese ingredient maker (Taiyo Kagaku) whose Sunphenon green tea extracts and Suntheanine L-theanine are produced at its own plants. Taiyo International is the North American sales arm.
Suppliers are in alphabetical order and none pays to appear. Each claim is checked against the supplier’s own website on the date shown. Ask for the specification sheet and a recent COA before you order, and confirm details with the supplier.
Common forms include polyphenol-standardized extract, high-EGCG or purified EGCG, decaffeinated extract, caffeine-standardized extract, liquid, glycerin and glycol extracts and organic. Ask each supplier for the specification sheet of the exact grade they quote.
Expect identity, assay: polyphenols, catechins and EGCG, caffeine, heavy metals, pesticide residues, residual solvents and microbiology, each with its method, specification and result for that lot.
Store in sealed, light-resistant packaging in a cool, dry place. Powdered extracts pick up moisture, and catechins degrade with heat, humidity, light and oxygen, which can show up as darkening and a falling EGCG assay. Shelf life or a retest date comes from the supplier's COA; re-assay stock that has passed its retest date or sat open before using it.
Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/2340 added green tea extracts containing EGCG to Part B (restricted substances) of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006, limiting EGCG per daily portion of food. The same EU regulation requires foods containing these extracts to state the maximum number of portions per day and carry an intake warning on the label. FDA GRAS Notice GRN 772 (Kemin Industries, palmitoylated green tea catechins for use to slow oxidation in foods) closed on Dec 13, 2018 with a "no questions" letter.
Request a free listing for the ingredients you make or distribute. No paid placement.