Abstract: To reveal the influences of tea polyphenols of old Fu brick teas on the diversity and composition of intestinal microflora in the elderly, the tea polyphenols were extracted and purified from Fu brick teas stored for 1 year and 7 years, and the isometric tea polyphenol extracts were added into the mixed medium of intestinal flora of elderly men (65 years) for the anaerobic static culture in vitro. The contents of tea polyphenols and short chain fatty acids（SCFAs）of the seven years’ tea group（O group）, one year’s tea group（N group） and the blank group（B group） were determined at 0βh, 4βh, 8βh, 12βh and 24βh. High-throughput sequencing of intestinal flora and relative bioinformatics analysis were also performed. The results showed that the polyphenols of seven years’ Fu brick tea had better effects on the increase of SCFA contents, the abundance and diversity of the intestinal flora of the elderly as compared with the control. The relative abundance of Escherichia and γ-Proteobacteria_B38 at 4βh and 12βh were significantly reduced, and the relative abundance of Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium and Faecalibacterium were also increased in O group. The above results showed that the tea polyphenol of seven years’ Fu brick tea is more beneficial to the improvement of intestinal microflora in the elderly, which was of a high potential value to the health of elderly.

Key words: Fu brick tea polyphenols, intestinal flora of the elderly, anaerobic static culture, high-throughput sequencing