Research Database
The only comprehensive database for clinical and medical research papers on the healthy benefits of matcha/green tea.
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Cognitive Function
Matcha consumption leads to much higher intake of green tea phytochemicals compared to regular green tea. Previous research on caffeine, L-theanine, and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) repeatedly demonstrated benefits on cognitive performance.
Learn MoreHeart Health
According to Harvard Medical School, “lowering your risk of cardiovascular disease may be as easy as drinking green tea. Studies suggest this light, aromatic tea may lower LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, which may be responsible for the tea's association with reduced risk of death from heart disease and stroke.”
Learn MoreMental Health
Matcha contains an amino acid called L-theanine, which has been shown to reduce physiological and psychological stresses. L-theanine also improves cognition and mood in a synergistic manner with caffeine, and promotes alpha wave production in the brain
Learn MoreCancer Prevention
Matcha/green tea has for many centuries been regarded as an essential part of good health in Japan and China. Many believe it can help reduce the risk of cancer, and a growing body of evidence backs this up.
Learn MoreImmunity
A recent study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concluded that drinking matcha daily greatly enhanced the overall response of the immune system. The exceedingly high levels of antioxidants in matcha mainly take the form of polyphenols, catechins, and flavonoids, each of which aids the body’s defense in its daily struggles against free radicals that come from the pollution in your air, water and foods.
Learn MoreMost Recent Research Articles
Author: A.A. Khalaf and Walaa A. Moselhy and Marwa I. Abdel-Hamed
The role of green tea in protection against neurotoxicity induced by lead acetate was investigated in rats. Five equal groups, each of ten rats were used. The first group was served as control, the second, third, and fourth groups were given lead acetate, lead acetate and green tea, and green tea only, respectively, for one month, the fifth group was administered lead acetate for one month followed by green tea for 15 days. Lead acetate was given orally at a dose of 100 mg/kg b. wt, while green tea was given in drinking water at a concentration of 5 g/L. Lead acetate administration induced loss of body weight and decreased concentration of reduced glutathione and SOD activity in brain tissues as well as significantly high DNA fragmentation and pathological changes. Co-administration of green tea with lead acetate significantly alleviated these adverse effects.
Author: Quan V. Vuong and Sing P. Tan and Costas E. Stathopoulos and Paul D. Roach
The green tea (Camellia sinensis) catechins are strong antioxidants linked with potential health benefits. Based on previous studies, it was hypothesised that the typical household conditions for brewing green tea in a teabag – 200 mL freshly boiled water for 2–3 min, as per the manufacturers’ instructions – were not sufficient to extract all the catechins and that a household microwave oven could be used to improve the extraction. The catechins and the two other main green tea components, caffeine and theanine, were monitored by HPLC. The typical household conditions only extracted 62% (61 mg/g tea), 76% (24 mg/g) and 80% (10 mg/g) of the catechins, caffeine and theanine, respectively, from the five varieties of teabags analysed. However, using microwave assisted extraction (MAE) by first brewing a teabag in 200 mL freshly boiled water for 0.5 min before irradiation for 1 min in a microwave oven (hot MAE), improved the extraction of the catechins and caffeine to 80% (80 mg/g) and 92% (29 mg/g), respectively, although the extraction of theanine was not affected. Therefore, the hot MAE technique could help maximise the extraction of the catechins for those who consume green tea for the potential health benefits of the catechins.
Author: T. Malik and D.J. Haleem
Introduction: HAL elicits NAS along Parkinsonism. HAL induces c-Fos responsiveness in a distributed anxiety-related neural scheme, selected neuronal population of nucleus accumbens. Mood deficits by HAL metabolically effect via diet restriction that reduced body weight. GTE is known to control appetite and body weight while exerting anxiolytic effects. Aim: The current study testifies the hypothesis that GTE may control HAL elicited NAS with reducing Parkinsonism. Methods: Rats (n=6) were treated with one of the four treatments; oral fluid [water/GTE (1 gm/liter)] plus saline; or oral fluid plus i.p HAL (1 mg/kg/day) administration. Behavioral assessments and neurochemical analysis were performed following six weeks of treatments. Results: suggest that HAL induced decreases in fluid, food intake and growth rate were greater in GTE treated animals. GTE was shown to induce anxiogenic behavior examined in light dark box transitional test but not in fear like exploratory behavior on elevated plus maze and motor deficits on rota rod performance. HAL induced locomotor activity was suppressed, innate aversive and fear like exploratory behaviors were greater in GTE than water drinking animals. HAL induced serotonergic metabolism was increased in the caudate and nucleus accumbens and decreased in the serotonin availability in the rest of the brain regions of GTE treated animals. HAL induced decreased dopamine was increase din the nucleus accumbens of GTE drinking than water drinking animals. Conclusion: Potential mechanism involved in the greater anorexiogenic effects of GTE and greater HAL induced NAS plus Parkinsonism in GTE treated animals is proposed for demonstration in this meeting.
Author: Susanne M. Henning and Piwen Wang and Jonathan Said and Clara Magyar and Brandon Castor and Ngan Doan and Carmen Tosity and Aune Moro and Kun Gao and Luyi Li and David Heber
It has been demonstrated in various animal models that the oral administration of green tea (GT) extracts in drinking water can inhibit tumor growth, but the effects of brewed GT on factors promoting tumor growth, including oxidant damage of DNA and protein, angiogenesis and DNA methylation, have not been tested in an animal model. To explore these potential mechanisms, brewed GT was administered instead of drinking water to male severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice with androgen-dependent human LAPC4 prostate cancer cell subcutaneous xenografts. Tumor volume was decreased significantly in mice consuming GT, and tumor size was significantly correlated with GT polyphenol (GTP) content in tumor tissue. There was a significant reduction in hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha and vascular endothelial growth factor protein expression. GT consumption significantly reduced oxidative DNA and protein damage in tumor tissue as determined by 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine/deoxyguanosine ratio and protein carbonyl assay, respectively. Methylation is known to inhibit antioxidative enzymes such as glutathione S-transferase pi to permit reactive oxygen species promotion of tumor growth. GT inhibited tumor 5-cytosine DNA methyltransferase 1 mRNA and protein expression significantly, which may contribute to the inhibition of tumor growth by reactivation of antioxidative enzymes. This study advances our understanding of tumor growth inhibition by brewed GT in an animal model by demonstrating tissue localization of GTPs in correlation with inhibition of tumor growth. Our results suggest that the inhibition of tumor growth is due to GTP-mediated inhibition of oxidative stress and angiogenesis in the LAPC4 xenograft prostate tumor in SCID mice.
Author: Della W.M. Sin and Pui-kwan Chan and Samuel T.C. Cheung and Yee-Lok Wong and Siu-kay Wong and Chuen-shing Mok and Yiu-chung Wong
This paper presents the preparation of a candidate certified reference material (CRM) of cypermethrin in green tea, GLHK-11-01a according to the requirements of ISO Guide 34 and 35. Certification of the material was performed using a newly developed isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS) approach, with gas chromatography high resolution mass spectrometry (GC–HRMS) and gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (GC–MS/MS). Statistical analysis (one-way ANOVA) showed excellent agreement of the analytical data sets generated from the two mass spectrometric detections. The characterization methods have also been satisfactorily applied in an Asia-Pacific Metrology Program (APMP) interlaboratory comparison study. Both the GC–HRIDMS and GC–IDMS/MS methods proved to be sufficiently reliable and accurate for certification purpose. The certified value of cypermethrin in dry mass fraction was 148 μg kg−1 and the associated expanded uncertainty was 14 μg kg−1. The uncertainty budget was evaluated from sample in homogeneity, long-term and short-term stability and variability in the characterization procedure. GLHK-11-01a is primarily developed to support the local and wider testing community on need basis in quality assurance work and in seeking accreditation.
Author: Zaixiang Lou and Chaojuan Er and Jing Li and Hongxin Wang and Song Zhu and Juntao Sun
In order to selectively remove caffeine from green tea, a microwave-enhanced vacuum ice water extraction (MVIE) method was proposed. The effects of MVIE variables including extraction time, microwave power, and solvent to solid radio on the removal yield of caffeine and the loss of total phenolics (TP) from green tea were investigated. The optimized conditions were as follows: solvent (mL) to solid (g) ratio was 10:1, microwave extraction time was 6 min, microwave power was 350 W and 2.5 h of vacuum ice water extraction. The removal yield of caffeine by MVIE was 87.6%, which was significantly higher than that by hot water extraction, indicating a significant improvement of removal efficiency. Moreover, the loss of TP of green tea in the proposed method was much lower than that in the hot water extraction. After decaffeination by MVIE, the removal yield of TP tea was 36.2%, and the content of TP in green tea was still higher than 170 mg g−1. Therefore, the proposed microwave-enhanced vacuum ice water extraction was selective, more efficient for the removal of caffeine. The main phenolic compounds of green tea were also determined, and the results indicated that the contents of several catechins were almost not changed in MVIE. This study suggests that MVIE is a new and good alternative for the removal of caffeine from green tea, with a great potential for industrial application.
Author: Dominique Trudel and David P. Labbé and Isabelle Bairati and Vincent Fradet and Laurent Bazinet and Bernard Têtu
Objective This systematic review was conducted to examine the effects of green tea or green tea components on the prevention and progression of epithelial ovarian cancer. Methods Using Medline, EMBASE and SciVerse (last researched: July 2011), we retrieved 22 articles including 5 epidemiological studies. Results In epithelial ovarian cancer cell lines, green tea and green tea components have been shown to downregulate the expression of proteins involved in inflammation, cell signalization, cell motility and angiogenesis. Green tea and green tea components would induce apoptosis and could potentiate the effects of cisplatin, a chemotherapeutic agent. In human observational studies, significant associations between green tea intake and both decreased ovarian cancer occurrence and better prognosis were reported. Conclusions Available literature suggests potential molecular targets for green tea in ovarian cancer treatment and also provides data supporting the clinical evaluation of the role of green tea or green tea components in ovarian cancer prevention and treatment.
Author: Martina Bancirova
The antioxidant properties of black and green teas are well known. It is also possible to determine their antioxidant capacity by using a chemiluminscent method. This method is based on the measurement of the delay in the emission of light from the luminol reaction in the presence of the antioxidant. Bloodstains which are invisible to the naked eye can also be detected by luminol. Three common methods (detection using the Grodsky or Weber formulations and by Bluestar® Forensic latent bloodstain reagent) are based on the luminol chemiluminescence reaction. The bloodstains can be masked by drinks and/or foods containing antioxidants. The aim of this work was to compare the ability of black and green teas containing antioxidants to cause false negative results during chemiluminescent bloodstain detection.
Author: Juyeon Kim and Sung I. Koo and Sang K. Noh
Previously, we have shown that green tea extract (GTE) lowers the intestinal absorption of lipids and lipophilic compounds in rats. This study was conducted to investigate whether GTE inhibits the intestinal absorption and biliary secretion of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), an extremely lipophilic potent carcinogen, present in foods as a contaminant. Male rats with lymph or bile duct cannula were infused at 3.0 ml/h for 8 h via a duodenal catheter with lipid emulsion containing 14C-BaP with or without GTE in PBS buffer. Lymph and bile were collected hourly for 8 h. The 14C-radioactivities in lymph, bile and intestine were determined and expressed as % dose infused. Results showed that GTE drastically lowered the lymphatic absorption of 14C-BaP (7.6±3.2% in GTE-infused vs. 14.4±2.7% dose/8 h in control rats), with a significantly higher amount of 14C-radioactivity present in the small intestinal lumen and cecum in rats infused with GTE. GTE also markedly increased the hourly rate (3.9±0.1% dose/h in GTE-infused vs. 3.0±0.1% dose/h in control rats) and the total biliary secretion of 14C-BaP (31.5±0.8% dose/8 h in GTE-infused vs. 24.3±0.4% dose/8 h in control rats). The findings provide first direct evidence that GTE has a profound inhibitory effect on the intestinal absorption of BaP and promotes the excretion of absorbed BaP via the biliary route. Further studies are warranted to investigate whether green tea could be recommended as a dietary means of ameliorating the toxicity and carcinogenic effect of BaP.
Author: Quansheng Chen and Zhiming Guo and Jiewen Zhao and Qin Ouyang
To rapidly and efficiently measure antioxidant activity (AA) in green tea, near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy was employed with the help of a regression tool in this work. Three different linear and nonlinear regressions tools (i.e. partial least squares (PLS), back propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN), and support vector machine regression (SVMR)), were systemically studied and compared in developing the model. The model was optimized by a leave-one-out cross-validation, and its performance was tested according to root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) and correlation coefficient (Rp) in the prediction set. Experimental results showed that the performance of SVMR model was superior to the others, and the optimum results of the SVMR model were achieved as follow: RMSEP = 0.02161 and Rp = 0.9691 in the prediction set. The overall results sufficiently demonstrate that the spectroscopy coupled with the SVMR regression tool has the potential to measure AA in green tea.