Search

Abstract Background The consumption of various herbal infusions was and is common in the traditional Mediterranean diet, and apparently are used in many other regions of the world outside of the Mediterranean region. The present study aimed to investigate the consumption of herbal infusions/decoctions and tea in a nationally representative sample of Greece, considering also their Planetary use. Methods 3951 adult participants of the HYDRIA Survey (2013–2014) were included from the 13 regions of Greece. The diet of participants was assessed by two 24-h dietary recalls (24-HDR) and the Food Propensity Questionnaire (FPQ). All food items were analyzed through the HYDRIA Food Composition Tables. Information on socio-demographics, lifestyle, and health characteristics during the baseline was also provided. Results 26.9% of herbal infusions and decoctions consumers are ≥ 75 years old, pensioners with a low level of education, and residents of urban areas. However, 22.2% of tea consumers belong to the 18–34-year age group, being employed with an intermediate level of education and living in an urban area. Elderly men and women use more herbal infusions/decoctions (55.4%; 40.6%) compared to tea (41.8%; 25.2%). According to FPQ, 7.1% of men and 9.7% of women use herbal infusions and decoctions four times or more per week, while 7.1 and 10.9% of men and women, respectively, consume tea at the same frequency. Green tea, mountain tea (Sideritis spp.), and black tea are reported most frequently. In addition, mountain tea (61.2%), black tea (60.3%), mixed herbal infusions/decoctions (58.4%), and sage (59.4%) are consumed mostly at breakfast, while chamomile was reported mainly at dinner or during the night (42.4%). Conclusions Based on the FPQ results, the moderate and high consumption of herbal infusions/decoctions and tea is low in Greece, especially among adults (18–64 years). Thus, our results indicate the existence of a generation gap to the attachment to the traditional Med Diet and the consumption of herbal infusions. The present study could encourage future research to focus on herbal infusions and decoctions consumption by other populations for cross-cultural comparison, as well as on emphasizing the value of consuming locally available herbs in a Planeterranean perspective. Graphical Abstract

The incorporation of traditional medicine into the mainstream health care delivery system particularly in some developing countries such as Ghana has resulted in reliable access to herbal medicines and their safe use. This has also led to a surge in the search for herbal alternatives, reformulation, and development of herbal medications in treating and managing diseases such as diabetes. Currently, the surging price of orthodox antidiabetics and their reported adverse effects from long term use has contributed to many Ghanaians switching to the use of phytomedicines as alternatives. The aim of this study is to formulate tea from the leaves of Tapinanthus bangwensis, family Loranthaceae to serve as an additional remedy for the management of diabetes.For standardization, quality control, and authentication of the formulation, FTIR, and HPLC analysis were conducted. The safety profile of the tea via determination of median lethal dose (LD50), microbial load, essential elements and toxic metal contents were also assessed. In addition, the pH, uniformity of mass, total water extractive and optimization of the extraction method were also investigated.The FTIR showed the presence of alcohols, esters, phenols and aromatic compounds. The HPLC fingerprint also showed 23 peaks with the highest peak having a retention time of 15.4 min. The extract also recorded a pH of 7.43 ± 0.02 at 26.1 °C and total water extractive of 39.37 ± 0.05 %w/w. The tea passed the uniformity of mass test with an average net mass of 3.0 ± 0.02 g. Optimum extraction of the tea was realised with 250 mL of freshly boiled water. The formulated tea was found to be safe since the determined LD50 was 50 times more than the daily dose. The microbial load, elemental and toxic metal contents were also within acceptable limits.This study has shown the possibility of introducing this tea at a safe dose as an additional herbal remedy for the management of diabetes.

Chlorphenamine maleate is a prohibited additive found in herbal teas and health foods. Excessive intake of this substance can result in adverse health effects. In this study, two novel haptens, PEM and bepotastine (PB1), mimicking chlorphenamine maleate structure were designed and synthesized based on molecular simulation for developing two corresponding polyclonal antibodies (PEM-Ab and PB1-Ab), respectively. Afterward, an indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ic-ELISA) was developed to quickly and accurately detect chlorphenamine maleate in herbal teas using PB1-Ab, which has a high sensitivity and specificity. For chlorphenamine maleate, the half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) and limit of detection (LOD) of PB1-Ab under ideal circumstances were found to be 1.18 µg/L and 0.07 µg/L, respectively. Besides, an environmentally friendly sample pre-treatment strategy was employed that allowed easy and effective elimination of complex matrices. The ic-ELISA method observed the average recovery rate from 87.7% to 94.0% with the variance coefficient (CV) ranging from 2.2% to 9.4%. Additionally, the identification of 25 commercially available herbal teas using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) further confirmed the validity of our detection. The results of the two methods are consistent. Overall, the proposed ic-ELISA could be an ultrasensitive and reliable method for chlorphenamine maleate adulterated in foods or exposure to the environment.

Herbal teas have attracted attention as functional beverages containing luteolin and apigenin, which exhibit antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. The objective of this study was to develop a sensitive online automated method to determine these flavones’ contents in herbal teas using in-tube solid-phase microextraction (IT-SPME) coupled with liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). These compounds were extracted and concentrated by IT-SPME using a Supel Q PLOT capillary column and then separated and detected within 6 min using a CAPCELL PAK C18 MG III analytical column and a negative electrospray ionization-mode multiple-reaction monitoring system by LC–MS/MS. The detection limits (S/N = 3) for luteolin and apigenin were 0.4 and 0.8 pg mL−1, respectively, and the calibration curves were linear in the range of 2–2000 pg mL−1 with correlation coefficients above 0.9995, and intra-day and inter-day precisions with relative standard deviations below 2.9 and 3.6% (n = 6), respectively. The luteolin and apigenin in herbal tea were quantified using IT-SPME/LC-MS/MS following the acid hydrolysis of their glycosides. Among the 10 herbal teas tested, luteolin was detected in peppermint and sage at concentrations of 375 and 99 µg mL−1, respectively, while apigenin was detected in German chamomile at 110 µg mL−1, which were higher than in the other herbal teas. The method is expected to be a useful method for evaluating the efficacy of luteolin and apigenin in herbal teas as functional beverages.

Abstract Background Herbal tea, known as health-promoting due to its therapeutic potential for several ailments and consumption increased over decades. The Western Himalayan region of India affluent with herbs has therapeutic values. However, these herbs have not been used in the tea and are still untouched by mankind. Therefore, the present study aimed to pioneer and manufacture herbal teas from Western Himalayan region plants. Results Our findings showed that total polyphenol content was ranged from 4.42 ± 0.53 to 13.37 ± 0.50% compared to green tea (GT) and black tea (BT) (13.37 ± 0.50 and 10.05 ± 0.11%) of C. sinensis, total flavonoid and total catechin content was ranged from 1.81 ± 0.67–4.68 ± 0.26% to 4.43 ± 0.28–15.17 ± 0.53% in all the herbal tea samples. Moreover, antioxidant activity was ranged in DPPH from (27.58–226.28 µg/mL) and in ABTS (14.17–117.62 µg/mL). Highest antioxidant activity was observed in GT and lowest was observed in rose tea (RT). Heatmap was made for catechin visualization in green herbal teas (GHT). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed the variation of amino acids in all the herbal tea samples which was found in the range from 0.82 to 2.86%. Taxus green tea (TGT) exhibited remarkable cytotoxic activity against SW480 (50.9 ± 0.7 at 200 µg/mL). Whereas, sea-buckthorn green tea (SGT) exhibited the highest activities on A549 cells (87.01 ± 1.1 at 200 µg/mL). Maximum volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were identified in lemongrass black tea (LBT) (96.23%), namely, geranial, levoverbenone, pulegone, l-linalool and cineol. In addition, the sensory analysis revealed that herbal tea shows sweet and better taste with high sensory attributes. Conclusions Current study revealed that the Western Himalayan region plants could be used as herbal tea with additional health benefits. The prepared herbal teas can be used in nutraceuticals as a beverage and a new dietary source for bioactive compounds. Graphical Abstract

Herbal teas, including Camellia sinensis (black and green teas), are popular beverages with health benefits for consumers worldwide. These products are prepared from natural materials of different plant parts containing antioxidant properties and vitamins. The aim of this study was to investigate fungal contaminants and their ability to produce ochratoxin A (OTA) in herbal tea samples. Seven herbal teas were obtained from local markets in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand. Samples were incubated on potato dextrose agar (PDA), and the growing mycelia were isolated into a pure culture. The cultures were identified via both morphology and molecular analysis to confirm species identification. The identified species were subjected to OTA analysis using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a fluorescence detector. Ochratoxin A was produced by Aspergillus chevalieri and A. niger, isolated from seven herbal tea samples (black tea, green tea, bael fruit, goji berry, jasmine, lavender, and rose). This finding raises concerns about the safety of herbal tea and should be investigated further for potential health implications.

Since ancient times, communities have widely used herbal medicines and their teas for therapeutic properties. In the present study, the concentration, transfer rate, and potential health risks of metal(loid)s (As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Mo, Pb, Sr, and Zn) in 30 traditional herbal medicines (ten species from various countries) collected from Persian markets were investigated. The results indicated the wide variations of detected metals in the medicinal herbs. Mn and Sr had the highest concentrations in the herbal medicine and their infusions. Also, Cd levels of five dried plants exceeded the recommended values. Base on the findings of discriminant analysis, the dried Cheeseweed, Hollyhocks, Thymus, Pennyroyal, and Bugloss had the lowest metal levels. Furthermore, Cd in Senna and Marjoram infusions was displayed a carcinogenic risk for children. Considering that some of the studied plants were imported, a high level of Cd in medicinal plants and their products could pose a serious risk to human health worldwide. On the other hand, due to the poor extractability of analyzed metals (transfer rate < 30%), their levels in herbal infusions and their hazard indices were lower than international guidelines for adults. Hence, although preparing water-based extract may be an effective way to reduce the intake of toxic metals from herbal medicines, the presence of toxic metals in infusions may pose a risk to vulnerable groups, such as children.

This paper describes different E-Senses systems, such as Electronic Nose, Electronic Tongue, and Electronic Eyes, which were used to build several machine learning models and assess their performance in classifying a variety of Colombian herbal tea brands such as Albahaca, Frutos Verdes, Jaibel, Toronjil, and Toute. To do this, a set of Colombian herbal tea samples were previously acquired from the instruments and processed through multivariate data analysis techniques (principal component analysis and linear discriminant analysis) to feed the support vector machine, K-nearest neighbors, decision trees, naive Bayes, and random forests algorithms. The results of the E-Senses were validated using HS-SPME-GC-MS analysis. The best machine learning models from the different classification methods reached a 100% success rate in classifying the samples. The proposal of this study was to enhance the classification of Colombian herbal teas using three sensory perception systems. This was achieved by consolidating the data obtained from the collected samples.

Several plants have been processed in Lesotho to manufacture various commercial prodcts, ranging from cosmetics and beverages (juice, tea) to traditional herbal mixtures and crafts. Even though plants of commercial importance have been documented in different regions and countries, this is not the case in Lesotho. Therefore, the aim of the study is to record plant species commonly used in the country for development of commercial products. A physical survey was undertaken in different places in the Maseru District of Lesotho between January 2019 and October 2021, taking a record of existing commercial products and identifying plants used in their development. A total of 15 plants of commercial importance in the country are recorded in the current study, namely Agave americana, Aloe ferox, Artemisia afra, Cannabis sativa, Helichrysum odoratissimum, Hemannia depressa, Hypoxis hemerocallidea, Leudeboria cooperi, Mentha spp., Merxmuellera spp., Pelargonium sidoides, Opuntia ficus-indica, Rosa rubiginosa and Urtica urens. Most of the plants are used for production of commercial products in the country, whereas some are exported as raw materials, mainly to countries such as Germany, South Africa, Australia and America. The latter are C. sativa, Merxmuellera spp., P. sidoides and R. rubiginosa. Profiling of the plants provides important information about their commercial potential. However, conservation of the plants is encouraged to ensure their sustainable utilisation.

The Adriatic islands in Croatia, usually divided into two archipelagos – the Kvarner and Dalmatian islands – is one of the largest groups of islands in Europe. Over 40 islands are still inhabited. Unfortunately the traditional use of medicinal plants was never properly documented there. Our data comes from 343 interviews carried out in 36 islands, including the 15 largest islands of the archipelago. The medicinal plants are mainly used to make herbal infusions or decoctions, occasionally medicinal liqueurs, syrups, compresses, or juices squeezed out of raw plants. We recorded the use of 146 taxa, among them 131 with at least one medicinal purpose and 15 only for tea. The frequency curve of use is relatively steep – several plants are used very frequently and most are reported only by one or two informants, which can be explained both by the large geographical spread of the area, and even more so by the devolution of local knowledge and disappearance of gathering practices due to specialization in tourism, modernization and depopulation. Most of the gathered plants already occur in ancient and medieval herbals and are a part of the pan-Mediterranean pharmacopoeia.

The world is currently undergoing a demographic change towards an increasing number of elderly citizens. Aging is characterized by a temporal decline in physiological capacity, and oxidative stress is a hallmark of aging and age-related disorders. Such an oxidative state is linked to a decrease in the effective mechanisms of cellular repair, the incidence of post-translational protein glycation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and neurodegeneration, just to name some of the markers contributing to the establishment of age-related reduction-oxidation, or redox, imbalance. Currently, there are no prescribed therapies to control oxidative stress; however, there are strategies to elevate antioxidant defenses and overcome related health challenges based on the adoption of nutritional therapies. It is well known that herbal teas such, as hibiscus, rooibos, and yerba mate, are important sources of antioxidants, able to prevent some oxidation-related stresses. These plants produce several bioactive metabolites, have a pleasant taste, and a long-lasting history as safe foods. This paper reviews the literature on hibiscus, rooibos, and yerba mate teas in the context of nutritional strategies for the attenuation of oxidative stress-related glycoxidation and neurodegeneration, and, here, Alzheimer’s Disease is approached as an example. The focus is given to mechanisms of glycation inhibition, as well as neuroprotective in vitro effects, and, in animal studies, to frame interest in these plants as nutraceutical agents related to current health concerns.

Abstract In this work, it was evaluated the phenolic content, redox behavior and antioxidant capacity of several selected teas and tisanes from Brazilian market. The samples were classified as simple (single herb) or composed (blend of two or more herbs). In addition, complementary multivariate statistical approaches were used to identify the correlation and interdependence between the amount of major phytocomponents, such as phenols and flavonoids, as well as the antioxidant activity of the products. Results showed that the total polyphenol and total flavonoid concentrations are correlated to thermodynamic feasibility of reactive oxygen species reduction. The statistical modeling differentiated the results datasets in principal components, whose flavonoid content presented itself as the main parameter to segregate data between simple and composed products. On the other hand, the whole polyphenol content, in both teas and tisanes, was more relevant regarding their antioxidant capacity than the flavonoids content. Considering that the manufactures do not display the real amount of each herb in the labels of the composed products, it was not possible to confirm whether the blends of several species lead to a substantial enhancement on their antioxidant capacity. Furthermore, the redox profile and overall polyphenol content suggest that the consumption of green and black teas as well as traditional yerba mate may be worthwhile in preventing ailments associated with oxidative stress in Brazilian population. Notwithstanding, further clinical studies are required to validate this hypothesis.

(1) Background: The way tobacco and tea spread among virgin populations is of major interest our understanding of how ancient economic and cultural practices could have influenced current habits. (2) Methods: hair concentrations of theobromine, theophylline, caffeine, nicotine, and cotinine were measured in hair samples from 47 frozen bodies of people from eastern Siberia, dated from the contact with Europeans to the assimilation of people into Russian society. (3) Results: hair concentration of theobromine, theophylline, and caffeine vary with the type of beverage consumed: green, black, or local herbal teas. Shortly after the first contacts, a few heavy consumers of tobacco were found among light or passive consumers. Tobacco-related co-morbidities began to be recorded one century after and heavy tea users were only found from the 19th century (4) Conclusions: Economic factors and social and family contacts seem to have played a decisive role in tobacco consumption very early on. Behavioral evolution governed the process of substance integration into Siberian culture and was a determinant for the continuity of its use across long periods of time. Analyzing the respective contributions of social and economic processes in the use of these substances opens avenues of investigation for today’s public health.

Medicinal plants have been widely used in traditional medicine due to their therapeutic properties. Although they are mostly used as herbal infusion and tincture, employment as ingredients of food supplements is increasing. However, fraud and adulteration are widespread issues. In our study, we aimed at evaluating DNA metabarcoding as a tool to identify product composition. In order to accomplish this, we analyzed fifteen commercial products with DNA metabarcoding, using two barcode regions: psbA-trnH and ITS2. Results showed that on average, 70% (44–100) of the declared ingredients have been identified. The ITS2 marker appears to identify more species (n = 60) than psbA-trnH (n = 35), with an ingredients’ identification rate of 52% versus 45%, respectively. Some species are identified only by one marker rather than the other. Additionally, in order to evaluate the quantitative ability of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) to compare the plant component to the corresponding assigned sequences, in the laboratory, we created six mock mixtures of plants starting both from biomass and gDNA. Our analysis also supports the application of DNA metabarcoding for a relative quantitative analysis. These results move towards the application of HTS analysis for studying the composition of herbal teas for medicinal plants’ traceability and quality control.

The chemical composition and biological properties correlation in several medicinal and aromatic plants is still underexplored, especially in its most common form of consumption as tisane. The present study aims to characterize the organic acids and vitamin E composition of five tisanes and their extracts by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled to a diode-array detector (HPLC-DAD) and HPLC coupled to a fluorescence detector techniques, respectively, and the phenolic composition by HPLC-DAD-ESI/MS (mass spectrometry by electrospray ionization). It also focuses on their bioactive properties, namely antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic, anti-tyrosinase, and anti-diabetic activities. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was performed in order to understand the correlation between the chemical composition and bioactive properties of the tisanes. The tisane 5 (T5) composed by lemon thyme, tutsan, cloves, and cinnamon, was the most promising mixture, presenting the lowest values for the lipid peroxidation inhibition, anti-inflammatory, and anti-diabetic activity. It also presented the highest concentration of phenolic acids (caffeoylquinic acids derivatives), and flavan-3-ols (catechin derivatives). Only the dry plants presented tocopherols. For the antihemolytic, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic activity, T2 and T4 (with lemon thyme) were highlighted as the best herbal mixtures. The PCA proved to be a valid tool to select the most promising tisane according to the bioactivity. These results suggest that the studied tisanes can be source of high added-value bioactive compounds with health-promoting effects and potential for application in the food and nutraceutical industries, among others.

Consumer dietary habits have drastically changed in recent decades and functional beverages now have a strong position in the market. The majority of these beverages are produced using simple processes that use raw products, such as cereals, legumes, fruits, and nuts, among others, and these are known to be frequently contaminated with mycotoxins. This review is focused on the occurrence of these toxic compounds in plant-based milks, fruit juices, and herbal teas. The fate of the toxins during processing is discussed to establish the potential risk posed by the consumption of these kind of beverages regarding mycotoxin uptake.

In this paper, a study of fungal and multi-mycotoxin contamination in 140 Camellia sinensis and 26 herbal teas marketed in Latvia is discussed. The analysis was performed using two-dimensional liquid chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (2D-LC-TOF-MS) and MALDI-TOF-MS. In total, 87% of the tea samples tested positive for 32 fungal species belonging to 17 genera, with the total enumeration of moulds ranging between 1.00 × 101 and 9.00 × 104 CFU g−1. Moreover, 42% of the teas (n = 70) were contaminated by 1 to 16 mycotoxins, and 37% of these samples were positive for aflatoxins at concentrations ranging between 0.22 and 41.7 µg kg−1. Deoxynivalenol (DON) and its derivatives co-occurred in 63% of the tea samples, with their summary concentrations reaching 81.1 to 17,360 µg kg−1. Ochratoxin A (OTA), enniatins, and two Alternaria toxins were found in 10–37% of the teas at low concentrations. The dietary exposure assessment based on the assumption of a probable full transfer of determined mycotoxins into infusions indicated that the analysed teas are safe for consumers: the probable maximum daily exposure levels to OTA and the combined DON mycotoxins were only 0.88 to 2.05% and 2.50 to 78.9% of the tolerable daily intake levels.

A total of 14 diverse herbal teas were examined, including: yarrow, basil, St.John’s wort, peppermint, horsetail, nettle, thyme, corn silk, hibiscus, marshmallow, chamomile, rosehip, heather and wild mint. The samples were prepared using the method of microwave digestion, and measurements were performed by the use of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (Cd, Hg, Pb, As, Sb); atomic absorption spectrometry (Mg); emission flame photometry (Ca, K, Na) and spectrophotometry (P). Intervals of variation (mg/kg) for macroelements were: Ca (2738-35399); P (1545-6264); Mg (1647-7816); Na (293-10629) and K (9683-33985), and for toxic elements: Cd (0.014-0.645); Hg (

Teas are the most consumed beverage worldwide after water, and its consumption among Nigerians has increased over the past decades due to its documented health potentials. The objective of this study was to investigate the levels of heavy metals (Pb, Ni, Cr, Zn, Fe and Cu) in herbal teas and also to estimate human health risk associated with their consumption. Twenty eight samples of commonly consumed herbal tea bags were purchased from major supermarkets in Port-Harcourt, Yenagoa and Owerri in Southern Nigeria. They were digested, ashed and analysed using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). Heavy metal concentration varied among the different brands of herbal teas in the study whereas the concentrations of Cd, Cr and Ni in some herbal teas were higher than the permissible limit in China. The estimated daily intake (EDI) of heavy metals via consumption of herbal teas showed that Fe contributed the most to the daily intake of metals while Pb contributed the least. The mean average of EDI of heavy metals were 0.657, 0.118, 0.014, 0.014, 0.008 and 0.0009 mg/kg/day Bw in the order of Fe > Zn > Cu > Cr > Ni > Pb respectively. The THQ and HI values were < 1. In conclusion, the study suggests that the risk level of heavy metal exposure via consumption of herbal teas is low with no significant health implications to consumers and may not pose a threat to food safety. Key words: Herbal teas, food safety, health risk assessment, THQ, EDI, HI, toxic metals

The chemopreventive properties of the herbal teas rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) and honeybush (Cyclopia spp.) have been demonstrated on mouse skin in vivo but the underlying mechanisms are not clear. The aim of the current study was to determine the anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic activity of methanol and aqueous extracts of rooibos and two Cyclopia species in different skin cells, using green tea (Camellia sinensis) as a benchmark. Extracts were also characterised for their major individual polyphenols by high performance liquid chromatography and spectroscopically for the total polyphenol (TP) groups. The methanol extract of rooibos, containing higher levels of polyphenols than its aqueous extract, displayed similar activity to green tea as it selectively targeted premalignant cells by inhibiting cell proliferation at lower concentrations whilst inducing apoptosis via membrane depolarisation at higher concentrations. Specific roles of the major rooibos dihydrochalcones and flavanol/proanthocyanidin-type (FLAVA) compounds are likely to be involved. The aqueous extracts of the Cyclopia species were more active against cell proliferation and at inducing apoptosis which was associated with a higher FLAVA content and a reduced TP/FLAVA ratio. In contrast, their methanol extracts exhibited a cytoprotective effect against apoptosis which was related to their monomeric xanthone and flavanone content. The underlying chemopreventive properties of green tea and the herbal teas appear to be associated with diverse and complex monomeric/polymeric polyphenolic cell interactions.

Most research on teas has focused on organic composition and less attention has been given to the mineral composition. The aim of this study was to examine and compare the mineral compositions (Na, Mg, K, Ca, P, S, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and Al) of eight commonly consumed teas. The teas included three traditional black or green teas (from Africa, China and Sri Lanka) and five herbal teas – two from South America (maté and coca) and three from South Africa (rooibos, honeybush and Athrixia phylicoides). Analyses were conducted on five samples of dry tea leaves of each of the teas and their infusions (steeping time: 6 min) using identical techniques in inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). It was found that each tea has a unique mineral profile. Dry tea leaves and their respective infusions also exhibited different mineral profiles. The tea infusions that contained relatively higher concentrations of beneficial minerals were maté, coca and Athrixia. High levels of aluminium were found in the traditional black and green teas whilst rooibos was high in sodium. Although teas are not rich sources of nutrients, the consumption of maté could contribute significantly to dietary manganese requirements.

Most research on teas has focused on organic composition and less attention has been given to the mineral composition. The aim of this study was to examine and compare the mineral compositions (Na, Mg, K, Ca, P, S, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and Al) of eight commonly consumed teas. The teas included three traditional black or green teas (from Africa, China and Sri Lanka) and five herbal teas - two from South America (maté and coca) and three from South Africa (rooibos, honeybush and Athrixia phylicoides). Analyses were conducted on five samples of dry tea leaves of each of the teas and their infusions (steeping time: 6 min) using identical techniques in inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). It was found that each tea has a unique mineral profile. Dry tea leaves and their respective infusions also exhibited different mineral profiles. The tea infusions that contained relatively higher concentrations of beneficial minerals were maté, coca and Athrixia. High levels of aluminium were found in the traditional black and green teas whilst rooibos was high in sodium. Although teas are not rich sources of nutrients, the consumption of maté could contribute significantly to dietary manganese requirements.

Most research on teas has focused on organic composition and less attention has been given to the mineral composition. The aim of this study was to examine and compare the mineral compositions (Na, Mg, K, Ca, P, S, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and Al) of eight commonly consumed teas. The teas included three traditional black or green teas (from Africa, China and Sri Lanka) and five herbal teas - two from South America (maté and coca) and three from South Africa (rooibos, honeybush and Athrixia phylicoides). Analyses were conducted on five samples of dry tea leaves of each of the teas and their infusions (steeping time: 6 min) using identical techniques in inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). It was found that each tea has a unique mineral profile. Dry tea leaves and their respective infusions also exhibited different mineral profiles. The tea infusions that contained relatively higher concentrations of beneficial minerals were maté, coca and Athrixia. High levels of aluminium were found in the traditional black and green teas whilst rooibos was high in sodium. Although teas are not rich sources of nutrients, the consumption of maté could contribute significantly to dietary manganese requirements.

Most research on teas has focused on organic composition and less attention has been given to the mineral composition. The aim of this study was to examine and compare the mineral compositions (Na, Mg, K, Ca, P, S, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and Al) of eight commonly consumed teas. The teas included three traditional black or green teas (from Africa, China and Sri Lanka) and five herbal teas - two from South America (maté and coca) and three from South Africa (rooibos, honeybush and Athrixia phylicoides). Analyses were conducted on five samples of dry tea leaves of each of the teas and their infusions (steeping time: 6 min) using identical techniques in inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). It was found that each tea has a unique mineral profile. Dry tea leaves and their respective infusions also exhibited different mineral profiles. The tea infusions that contained relatively higher concentrations of beneficial minerals were maté, coca and Athrixia. High levels of aluminium were found in the traditional black and green teas whilst rooibos was high in sodium. Although teas are not rich sources of nutrients, the consumption of maté could contribute significantly to dietary manganese requirements.

Most research on teas has focused on organic composition and less attention has been given to the mineral composition. The aim of this study was to examine and compare the mineral compositions (Na, Mg, K, Ca, P, S, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and Al) of eight commonly consumed teas. The teas included three traditional black or green teas (from Africa, China and Sri Lanka) and five herbal teas - two from South America (maté and coca) and three from South Africa (rooibos, honeybush and Athrixia phylicoides). Analyses were conducted on five samples of dry tea leaves of each of the teas and their infusions (steeping time: 6 min) using identical techniques in inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). It was found that each tea has a unique mineral profile. Dry tea leaves and their respective infusions also exhibited different mineral profiles. The tea infusions that contained relatively higher concentrations of beneficial minerals were maté, coca and Athrixia. High levels of aluminium were found in the traditional black and green teas whilst rooibos was high in sodium. Although teas are not rich sources of nutrients, the consumption of maté could contribute significantly to dietary manganese requirements.

Most research on teas has focused on organic composition and less attention has been given to the mineral composition. The aim of this study was to examine and compare the mineral compositions (Na, Mg, K, Ca, P, S, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and Al) of eight commonly consumed teas. The teas included three traditional black or green teas (from Africa, China and Sri Lanka) and five herbal teas - two from South America (maté and coca) and three from South Africa (rooibos, honeybush and Athrixia phylicoides). Analyses were conducted on five samples of dry tea leaves of each of the teas and their infusions (steeping time: 6 min) using identical techniques in inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). It was found that each tea has a unique mineral profile. Dry tea leaves and their respective infusions also exhibited different mineral profiles. The tea infusions that contained relatively higher concentrations of beneficial minerals were maté, coca and Athrixia. High levels of aluminium were found in the traditional black and green teas whilst rooibos was high in sodium. Although teas are not rich sources of nutrients, the consumption of maté could contribute significantly to dietary manganese requirements.

Most research on teas has focused on organic composition and less attention has been given to the mineral composition. The aim of this study was to examine and compare the mineral compositions (Na, Mg, K, Ca, P, S, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and Al) of eight commonly consumed teas. The teas included three traditional black or green teas (from Africa, China and Sri Lanka) and five herbal teas - two from South America (maté and coca) and three from South Africa (rooibos, honeybush and Athrixia phylicoides). Analyses were conducted on five samples of dry tea leaves of each of the teas and their infusions (steeping time: 6 min) using identical techniques in inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). It was found that each tea has a unique mineral profile. Dry tea leaves and their respective infusions also exhibited different mineral profiles. The tea infusions that contained relatively higher concentrations of beneficial minerals were maté, coca and Athrixia. High levels of aluminium were found in the traditional black and green teas whilst rooibos was high in sodium. Although teas are not rich sources of nutrients, the consumption of maté could contribute significantly to dietary manganese requirements.

Most research on teas has focused on organic composition and less attention has been given to the mineral composition. The aim of this study was to examine and compare the mineral compositions (Na, Mg, K, Ca, P, S, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and Al) of eight commonly consumed teas. The teas included three traditional black or green teas (from Africa, China and Sri Lanka) and five herbal teas – two from South America (maté and coca) and three from South Africa (rooibos, honeybush and Athrixia phylicoides). Analyses were conducted on five samples of dry tea leaves of each of the teas and their infusions (steeping time: 6 min) using identical techniques in inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). It was found that each tea has a unique mineral profile. Dry tea leaves and their respective infusions also exhibited different mineral profiles. The tea infusions that contained relatively higher concentrations of beneficial minerals were maté, coca and Athrixia. High levels of aluminium were found in the traditional black and green teas whilst rooibos was high in sodium. Although teas are not rich sources of nutrients, the consumption of maté could contribute significantly to dietary manganese requirements.