The effect of the duration of infusion, temperature, and water volume on the rutin content in the preparation of mate tea beverages: An optimization study

The consumption of tea beverages has increased 30% over the last decade, mainly due to the presence of bioactive compounds. Mate tea, produced by infusing the leaves and stems of Ilex paraguariensis, is the most widely consumed beverage in Brazil. The present study employed a central composite experimental design to optimize the transfer of rutin from the leaves and stems to the beverage during the infusion process. The optimum condition was applied to three batches of mate tea beverages from five commercial samples. Analysis of the rutin content was performed by high performance liquid chromatography coupled to a photo diodo array detector. The maximum rutin content in the beverage was obtained when the infusion was performed using 2 g of mate tea added to 100 mL of water at 72 °C and infused for 9 min. The commercial tea beverages prepared under these conditions contained from 0.16 to 1.1 mg of rutin in the ready-to-drink product.