Squalene is a cancer chemo-preventive and skin protective agent with high commercial demand. Here, we report for the first time that the green tea (Camellia sinensis) leaves is a surprisingly rich plant-based source of squalene. Young and tender leaves and old and turf leaves were collected at four different collecting seasons (April–August). Lipophilic compounds in the leaves and commercial green teas were extracted with hexane. The squalene contents in the hexane extracts varied greatly with the types of the leaves and collecting seasons. The hexane extract of turf leaves contained significantly higher contents of squalene than the extract of tender leaves. The hexane extract of the turf leaves collected in August contained the highest content of squalene (29.2 g/kg extract). This represents the first report on the qualitative and quantitative information on squalene in green tea leaves.

角鲨烯是具有高商业需求的癌症化学预防和皮肤保护剂。在这里，我们首次报道了绿茶（山茶））叶子是一种富含植物的角鲨烯来源。在四个不同的采集季节（4月至8月）采集嫩叶和嫩叶以及老叶和草皮叶。叶子和市售绿茶中的亲脂性化合物用己烷萃取。己烷提取物中角鲨烯的含量随叶片的类型和采集季节的不同而有很大差异。草皮叶的己烷提取物比嫩叶的提取物含有更高的角鲨烯含量。8月收集的草皮叶的己烷提取物含有最高含量的角鲨烯（29.2 g / kg提取物）。这是关于绿茶叶中角鲨烯定性和定量信息的第一份报告。