Title: 2-O-(.BETA.-L-arabinopyranosyl)-myo-inositol as a main constituent of tea (Camellia sinensis).
Abstract: A new main tea constituent, 2-O-(β-arabinopyranosyl)-myo-inositol (1, ca. 0.8 % of a Japanese green tea) was characterized by 13C-NMR spectroscopy. The inositol glycoside (1) has been found not only in all the tea extracts so far examined but also in the homogenate of Camellia sinensis var. sinensis ("Yabukita cultivar"), suggesting its physiological importance in carbohydrate metabolism in the tea plant.