Abstract:To investigate the inhibitory activity of tea saponin on advanced glycation end products（AGEs），the bovine serum albumin（BSA）-methylglyoxal（MGO）in vitro glycation model was established.The effect of tea saponin on fructosamine，carbonyl compounds，β-amyloid protein，and fluorescent AGEs in the glycation model was monitored by methods including an ultraviolet spectrophotometer and inverted fluorescence microscope.The antioxidant activity of tea saponin was also determined.The results showed that tea saponin′s inhibitory activity was ideal at every stage of BSA glycation. At the concentration of 2 mg/mL，tea saponin′s inhibition rate against fluorescent AGEs reached 82.13%.Tea saponin could effectively protect the sulfhydryl groups of BSA. As the concentration of tea saponin was 10 mg/mL，50% of sulfhydryl groups could be retained. The crosslinking between AGE molecules could be inhibited，and the formation of β-amyloid protein could be restrained.Moreover，tea saponin exhibited ideal antioxidant activity and could effectively scavenge hydroxyl free radicals and chelate ferrous ions. The formation of oxidative products，such as dityrosine，kynurenine，and N′-formyl kynurenine，could be reduced.