Studies of 54 antioxidants revealed that 27 of them, mainly polyphenols, generated hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) when added to Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium (DMEM), other media used for culture of mammalian and yeast cells and phosphate-buffered saline. The most active antioxidants were: propyl gallate (PG), (−)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and quercetin (Q). Chelex treatment and iron chelators decreased H₂O₂ generation suggesting that transition metal ions catalyze antioxidant autoxidation and H₂O₂ production. Green tea also generated H₂O₂; tea prepared on tap water generated significantly more H₂O₂ than tea prepared on deionized water. Ascorbic acid decreased H₂O₂ production although it generated H₂O₂ itself, in the absence of other additives. Lemon added to the tea significantly reduced generation of H₂O₂. Hydrogen peroxide generated in the medium contributed to the cytotoxicity of PG, EGCG and Q to human prostate carcinoma DU-145 cells, since catalase increased the survival of the cells subjected to these compounds in vitro.

对54种抗氧化剂的研究表明，其中的27种（主要是多酚）在加入Dulbecco改良的Eagle培养基（DMEM），用于哺乳动物和酵母细胞培养的其他培养基以及磷酸盐缓冲液中时会生成过氧化氢（H ₂ O ₂）。最具活性的抗氧化剂是：没食子酸丙酯（PG），（-）-表没食子儿茶素没食子酸酯（EGCG）和槲皮素（Q）。Chelex处理和铁螯合剂减少了H ₂ O _2的产生，表明过渡金属离子催化抗氧化剂的自氧化作用和H ₂ O _2的产生。绿茶还产生H ₂ O ₂ ; 用自来水配制的茶产生的H ₂ O明显更多₂比用去离子水配制的茶。尽管在没有其他添加剂的情况下抗坏血酸本身会产生H ₂ O ₂，但抗坏血酸会降低H ₂ O _2的产生。添加到茶中的柠檬大大减少了H ₂ O _2的产生。在培养基中产生的过氧化氢有助于PG，EGCG和Q对人前列腺癌DU-145细胞的细胞毒性，因为过氧化氢酶提高了受这些化合物体外培养的细胞的存活率。