Green Tea Leaves
Green tea leaves carry many health benefits. Find out about the processing of green tea leaves and how they are made to retain their beneficial properties…
Today we find many different kinds of green tea products to be soaring in popularity on a global scale. Green tea, which has been in use in many Asian cultures, especially China and Japan for many centuries has received new found glory in the west.
The green tea leaves that are used to make the blend are derived from a native Asian plant that goes by the name of Camellia Sinensis. For your information this is the same plant that gives us black tea as well. The reason why the two blends are different despite being derived from the same plant is because of the way they are processed. This is what gives both the blends different nutritional value.
Once the green tea leaves are picked they are immediately fired. This does not mean they are thrown into the fire rather it is a term used for a special tea making process which actually involves heating or steaming the green tea leaves. After this the leaves are dried up through a process known as withering.
The withering process is followed by either rolling them up or breaking them into smaller pieces. In this way the makers of the tea are able to induce oxidation and dry up the blend. The oxidation process needs to be carefully regulated as it strips the green tea leaves of their nutritional value. Hence the green tea leaves need to be dried in order to restrict the effects of oxidation and retain the nutritional value of the leaves.
The black tea that we commonly consume is a result of the process of oxidation on the same green tea leaves. The extensive oxidation on the green tea leaves turn it black and remove all the beneficial antioxidants from the blend. On the other hand the green tea leaves that are dried up before the process of oxidation takes its toll on them are considered to be much healthier.
When brewed, the green tea takes on a light green brown hue and has a strikingly different taste from the dark brown tea that the oxidized black tea produces. Not only are the two blends different in their appearance and taste, rather they have strikingly different qualities with regards to the effects that they have on your health.
The naturally gifted green tea leaves
Green tea leaves are endowed with a range of beneficial substances that have excellent curative effects on the body. When made through the process of steaming maximum effort is made to ensure that the leaves retain these properties so as to be able to benefit from them.
The main constituents in green tea leaves that are a source of benefit to human health are the presence of powerful antioxidants. These antioxidants help to strengthen the immune system thereby reducing the risk of developing diseases that the body would otherwise be more vulnerable to succumb to.
Today we find medical experts conducting extensive research and experimentation on green tea leaves in order to extract the maximum possible benefits from the leaves. Ironically the Chinese and Japanese have been doing that for hundreds of years.
