Method for producing purified tea extract

A process for producing a purified tea extract, the process comprising hydrolyzing a tea extract, allowing the hydrolyzed tea extract to adsorb on an activated carbon, and then contacting a basic aqueous solution or an aqueous solution of an organic solvent with the activated carbon, thereby eluting non-polymer catechins and producing the purified tea extract,

• wherein when the basic aqueous solution is contacted with the activated carbon to elute the non-polymer catechins, a flow rate of space velocity (SV) is from 2 to 10 [h−1] and a flow rate is from 1 to 30 [v/v],
• wherein when the aqueous solution of an organic solvent is contacted with the activated carbon to elute the non-polymer catechins, a flow rate of space velocity (SV) is from 0.1 to 10 [h−1] and a flow rate is from 1 to 15 [v/v], and
• wherein the activated carbon has an average pore size of from 0.5 to 10 nm, a pore volume of from 0.01 to 2.5 mL/g, and a specific surface area of from 800 to 2,000 m2/g.