TheNutritionandHealthBenefitsofGreenTea..docVIP

The Nutrition and Health Benefits of Green Tea Abstract: This short paper presents an overview of the composition of green tea. Particular emphasis is placed on the health benefits of green tea for a wide variety of ailments, including different types of cancer, heart disease,and liver disease, were reported. Key words: green tea; composition;health benefits Introduction Tea is one of the most popular beverages consumed worldwide. Tea, from the plant Camellia sinensis, is consumed in different parts of the world as green, black,or Oolong tea. Among all of these, however, the most significant effects on human health have been observed with the consumption of green tea [1]. The first green tea was exported from India to Japan during the 17th century. It is estimated that about 2.5 million tons of tea leaves are produced each year throughout the world,with 20% produced as green tea, which is mainly consumed in Asia, some parts of North Africa, the United States, and Europe[2]. The association between tea consumption, especially green tea, and human health has long been appreciated [3]. Green tea and black tea are processed differently during manufacturing. To produce green tea, freshly harvested leaves are immediately steamed to prevent fermentation, yielding a dry,stable product. This steaming process destroys the enzymes responsible for breaking down the color pigments in the leaves and allows the tea to maintain its green color during the subsequent rolling and drying processes. These processes preserve natural polyphenols with respect to the health-promoting properties. As green tea is fermented to Oolong and then to black tea,polyphenol compounds (catechins) in green tea are dimerized to form a variety of theaflavins, such that these teas may have different biological activities. 1 Green tea composition The chemical composition of green tea is complex: proteins (15-20% dry weight), whose enzymes constitute an important fraction; amino acids (1-4% dry weight) s