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• Green Tea Leaf (Camellia sinensis)
Tea has a long and rich history that goes back thousands of years, but legends in both China and India make claim to its origin. In China it was said to be an accidental discovery of King Shen Nong in 2700 B.C. when a gust of wind blew some tea leaves into a kettle of boiling water. In India legend has it that the discovery of tea followed the spread of Buddhism from India to China, Japan, and Southeast Asia. This story claims that Prince Siddhartha Gautama, Buddhism’s founder, grew tea in India and brought it to China and that tea was supposed to be the divine creation of Buddha. The chewing of tea leaves had long been established prior to these legends and it has been found that ancient prehistoric people more than 500,000 years ago were in the habit of boiling tea leaves found wild in the forest. Later, in the mid 1800’s the British pioneered the cultivation of tea using the plantation system. Today, both China and India are credited with tea’s birthplace and are the largest producers of tea.

There is also a rich history in the health benefits of drinking tea and, next to water, it is the most popular beverage consumed today worldwide. The health benefits are associated with the tea polyphenols (catechins, epicatechin, and especially EGCG (-)-epigallocatechin gallate), which are potent antioxidants present in the leaf. Green tea is most abundant in EGCG as many of the polyphenols/flavonoids (~85%) are converted to theaflavins and thearubins during fermentation from green to black tea. The scientific studies indicate that tea leaves containing these polyphenols reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) by preventing oxidation of LDL cholesterol, the primary factor associated with atherosclerosis. In addition, green tea polyphenols have been shown to be antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic in their action. Meaning they lower the formation of carcinogens and reduce the occurrence of chromosome aberrations during mutagen exposure. There has also been evidence of antibacterial, antiviral and immune stimulating action by the green tea polyphenols.