Tea is rich in polyphenols and other phenolics that have been widely reported to have
beneficial health effects. However, dietary polyphenols are not completely absorbed from
the gastrointestinal tract and are metabolized by the gut microflora so that they and their
metabolites may accumulate to exert physiological effects. In this study, we investigated the
influence of the phenolic components of a tea extract and their aromatic metabolites upon
bacterial growth. Fecal homogenates containing bacteria significantly catalyzed tea�…