The content of five kinds of catechins in eleven types of famous teas in Jiangxi, including Catechin, L-Epicatechin, (-)-epigallocatechin, Epigallocatechin gallate and (-)-Epicatechin gallate, was determined by high performance liquid chromatogra-phy. Moreover, the antioxidant capacities among the eleven types of tea were compared by measuring vitro antioxidant indexes, i.e. the free radical scavenging ability of DPPH, ABTS⁺, ferric reducing antioxidant power, and the total reduction ability. The results showed that the content of the five kinds of catechin in the tea was different, the content of total catechin did not differ significantly, and the contents of the total and different kind of catechin in green tea and white tea were higher than those in black tea. All types of tea showed obvious antioxidant capacity, but stronger antioxidant capacities in green tea and white tea were detected than that in black tea. For the antioxidant and anti-aging purpose, Jinggang and other kinds of green tea as well as Zixi and Jingan white tea were suggested.