The present invention relates to an oral care composition comprising catechins. We have found that the catechins tend to darken the color of the chalk based toothpaste due to its oxidation which happens at the high pH of the toothpaste. Once the catechins are oxidized and darken the color of the toothpaste it is no longer available as such for providing anti-inflammatory benefits. It is an object of the invention to provide a chalk based toothpaste formulation which does not turn substantially dark due to oxidation of catechins. The present inventors while working with oral care compositions comprising catechins preferably green tea catechins for providing anti-inflammatory benefits, surprisingly found that some selected zinc salts when added in particular quantities do not result in darkening the color of the toothpaste, and also, when stored, are able to deliver green tea catechins.
