2025Journal articleFree to read
Huang YL, Morikawa-Ichinose T, Lee SU, Tatsumi Y, Ichitani M, Kumazoe M, Tachibana H, Fujimura Y
Food chemistry. Molecular sciences
Matcha, a traditional Japanese green tea, has health-promoting effects. However, little is known about its bioactive components, except for polyphenols, caffeine, and amino acids. Here, we revealed the presence of diverse miRNAs, a type of functional RNAs, as new components of Matcha, using next-generation sequencing. Quantitative reverse-transcription PCR analysis of 10 different Matcha showed that miRNA levels varied depending on the cultivar and harvest season. As extraction methods of miRNAs, we found that soaking at 95 °C significantly enhanced total RNA and miRNA yields. Furthermore, a positive correlation was observed between total RNA and miRNA yields extracted from 27 plant-based dried powders. Notably, Matcha exhibited the highest levels of four representative miRNAs: lja-miR166-3p, csn-miR396d-5p, gma-miR396e, and csn-miRn409. The miRNA yields in Matcha were correlated with the major Matcha components. These results highlight Matcha as a source of miRNAs and candidate bioactive components. These findings provide new insights into the functionality of Matcha.
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Study type
Agronomy / cultivation
Growing, shading and harvesting tea for matcha.
Assigned automatically from the title, abstract and subject terms.
Topics
Matcha is a main subject here (named in the title).
Huang YL, Morikawa-Ichinose T, Lee SU, Tatsumi Y, Ichitani M, Kumazoe M, … Fujimura Y. (2025). Comprehensive microRNA analysis toward exploring a new functional component in Matcha green tea. Food chemistry. Molecular sciences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fochms.2025.100265
DOI: 10.1016/j.fochms.2025.100265 · PubMed ID: 40530395 · Cited by 2 (OpenAlex)
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