Highly simplified preparation of tea flavonoids from surplus tea leaves by the novel three-phase extraction and purification

A novel three-phase extraction and purification procedure was developed to prepare high-quality flavonoids from surplus tea leaves. Flavonoids were selectively extracted in ethyl acetate (EtOAc) by the EtOAc-water-leaf three-phase extraction, with 91.2% extraction efficiency, more than 50% higher than the traditional water extraction. The EtOAc extracts were purified by the EtOAc-water- montmorillonite/charcoal three-phase adsorptive...