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.
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Heart 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.”
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Mental 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
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Cancer 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.
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Immunity
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: Martina Bancirova
The combination of light, photosensitizer and molecular oxygen is involved in the photodynamic effect. The life-time of ROS is extremely short and ROS can damage biological systems. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) are also produced upon excitation of the photosensitizer by visible light only. Some drinks and foods have the potential or definite antioxidant capacity to inhibit or terminate the ROS action. Usually, Paramecium caudatum is used to determine the toxic effect; well known is especially the toxicity determination of the photodynamic effect. The aim of this work was to explore if the protective effect of tea against ROS produced by the different types of photosensitizer (methylene blue, eosin, fluorescein, phthalocyanines) upon the excitation by visible light only is also possible to determine on the unicellular organism P. caudatum, and compare the protective effect of the black and green teas against ROS with the protective effect of ascorbic acid and Trolox (a standard for the total antioxidant capacity determination). The teas were able to prolong the P. caudatum life-time; the highest observed protection against the photodynamic ROS production (triggered by methylene blue) was caused by the black and green teas and was identical for both of them. The stronger protective antioxidant properties of the green tea were not observed. The pro-oxidant influence of the used antioxidants was not observed.
Author: Melina Bucco Soares and Aryele Pinto Izaguirry and Laura Musacchio Vargas and Andreas Sebastian Loureiro Mendez and Cristiano Chiapinotto Spiazzi and Francielli Weber Santos
Cadmium has been associated with a wide spectrum of deleterious effects on the reproductive tissues, including ovary. This investigation evaluated the protective role of Camellia sinensis (green, white and red teas) in the cadmium-induced inhibition of ovarian δ-aminolevulinate dehydratase (δ-ALA-D) activity in vitro and ex vivo. This study demonstrated that green and white teas restored the cow ovary δ-ALA-D activity inhibited by cadmium whereas red tea had no effect in vitro. In addition, green tea was able to restore enzyme activity inhibited after acute cadmium exposure in mice ovary. Teas infusions composition was assessed by HPLC in a quantitative assay for catechins, purine alkaloids and gallic acid as well as total polyphenol content. The greatest effect of green tea observed in vitro as well as the protective role presented in the ex vivo study could be attributed to the major content of phenols, but not catechins. In fact, catechins were not able to restore enzyme activity inhibited by cadmium, demonstrating that these compounds are not major components responsible for the beneficial effect of green tea observed in this study. This study demonstrated the helpful effect of green tea infusion in ameliorating a marker protein of cadmium intoxication in ovarian tissue.
Author: Quan V. Vuong and John B. Golding and Costas E. Stathopoulos and Paul D. Roach
The pH of the aqueous brewing solution was maintained at values ranging from 1 to 9 during the green tea extraction and the effects on the tea's extracted constituents were studied. The epistructured catechins were stable under acidic conditions but epimerized or degraded at pH ≥ 6. The extractable solids contained more epistructured catechins at pHs 3–5 but more non-epistructured catechins at pHs 6–7. More tea cream was obtained at pH 1 but the concentration of catechins, caffeine and theanine was low in this fraction. Therefore, to maximize the extraction of the epistructured catechins and to minimize their epimerization and degradation and to maximize the extraction of caffeine and theanine, the results suggest that the pH should be maintained between 3 and 5.3 during the aqueous brewing process.
Author: Quan V. Vuong and John B. Golding and Minh H. Nguyen and Paul D. Roach
The aims of this study were to develop optimal conditions for decaffeination and spray drying procedures to produce decaffeinated and high caffeine powders from green tea (Camellia sinensis). Blanching the tea leaves with water at 100 °C for 4 min at a water-to-tea ratio of 20:1 mL/g removed 83% of the caffeine while retaining 94% of the catechins. The optimal spray drying conditions, which gave the highest yield of green tea powder and the highest concentrations of the naturally occurring epistructured catechins were found to be 180 °C for the inlet temperature and 115 °C for the outlet temperature. Using these optimal conditions, a decaffeinated green tea powder (7 mg/g caffeine) and a high caffeine powder (95 mg/g) were produced. These two green tea powders had excellent physical properties and could be used as instant teas by consumers or utilized in the food, cosmetic and nutraceutical industries.
Author: Aditi Jain and Chanchal Manghani and Shrey Kohli and Darshika Nigam and Vibha Rani
Tea is one of the most popularly consumed beverage. Depending on the manufacturing process, different varieties of tea can be produced. The antioxidative and antimutagenic potential of tea in cardiovascular diseases, cancer and obesity have long been studied. These therapeutic and nutritional benefits of tea can be attributed to the presence of flavanoids. However, these flavanoids also have certain detrimental effects on human health when their consumption exceeds certain limits. The toxicity of these flavanoids can be attributed to the formation of reactive oxygen species in the body which causes damage to the DNA, lipid membranes etc. The aim of this review is to summarize briefly, the less studied evidences of various forms of toxicity associated with tea and its harmful effects on human health.
Author: Shinya Hayasaka and Yasuaki Goto and Mari Maeda-Yamamoto
Japan is a major tea producing country, and green tea is known for its health benefits which are believed to be due to catechins. However, difficulties in maintaining an adequate amount of catechins in the blood have been reported. Another important health-promoting activity among the Japanese is bathing in hot springs. This pilot study examined whether the combined effects of green tea consumption and hot spring bathing improved absorption of green tea catechins. The study, with a comparative within-subject design involving two different intervention trials—green tea consumption with hot spring bathing and only green tea consumption—was conducted on 2 separate days. Plasma levels of catechin; (-)-epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCG) were analyzed from four volunteers. Plasma EGCG concentration was found to be higher for the combined trial of green tea consumption and hot spring bathing.
Author: Jungmin Oh and Heonjoo Jo and Ah Reum Cho and Sung-Jin Kim and Jaejoon Han
We evaluated the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of various leafy herbal tea (LHT) extracts, including rooibos, green tea, black tea, rosemary, lemongrass, mulberry leaf, bamboo leaf, lotus leaf, peppermint, persimmon leaf, and mate tea. To compare the antioxidant activities of various LHTs, samples of each were extracted with 80 °C water or 20 °C ethanol, and their total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity, 2,2-azinobis-3 ethyl benxothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) radical cation decolorization activity, ferric reducing power, and ferrous ion chelating effect were measured. Green tea ethanol extract showed the highest antioxidant activity in all assays except the ferrous ion-chelating assay. Water extracts of green tea and black tea and ethanol extracts of rosemary, mate, and persimmon leaf teas also exhibited considerable antioxidant potential, followed by the green tea ethanol extract. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum lethal concentrations (MLC) were determined to verify the antimicrobial activities of the LHT extracts against two oral pathogens (Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus) and three food-borne pathogens (Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella flexneri, and Salmonella enterica). Among the tested LHTs, green tea ethanol extract had potent antimicrobial activity against all five pathogens, and the mate tea water extract was the most effective against Gram-positive bacteria. Consequently, green tea ethanol extracts had the most powerful antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, suggesting their potential application as a health-promoting functional ingredient or natural preservative in foods.
Author: Cornelia Braicu and Michael R. Ladomery and Veronica S. Chedea and Alexandru Irimie and Ioana Berindan-Neagoe
Catechins and their gallate esters are a class of polyphenolic compounds. The catechin subclass known as flavan-3-ols have recently attracted much attention with regards to their beneficial effect on human health. Their biological actions are dependent on the structure of the compounds and vary according to cell type. They are best known as powerful antioxidants; however depending on the doses they also exhibit prooxidant effects. The anti- or prooxidant effects of green tea catechins have been implicated in the modulation of several cellular functions often associated with strong chemoprotective properties. This review summarises the benefit catechins to human health, the main molecular pathways modulated by catechins. The relationship between the structure and activity of the catechins needs to be studied further. In the future, the structure of catechins could be modified so as to synthesise novel compounds with more specific beneficial properties and higher bioavailability.
Author: Ayelet Zlotogorski and Aliza Dayan and Dan Dayan and Gavriel Chaushu and Tuula Salo and Marilena Vered
Summary Nutraceuticals with anti-neoplastic potential are suitable candidates for extending the range of therapeutic options for several types of cancers. One of these malignancies is oral cancer of the squamous cell carcinoma type, for which current treatment approaches have not succeeded in improving long-term clinical outcome. We recently reviewed the beneficial effects of curcumin for the treatment of oral cancer. In the current review, we focused on the beneficial effects of other two nutraceuticals, green tea extracts [especially (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG)] and resveratrol, in the treatment of oral cancer. In vivo and in vitro studies as well as clinical trials were reviewed, focusing on the beneficial effect of each of these plant-derived dietary agents, either alone or in combination with various pharmacological agents. We also presented the anti-cancer effects against cancer cells and against components of the tumor microenvironment. It emerged that the poor bioavailability of these nutraceuticals poses an obstacle to their exerting adequate anti-cancer potential. Ground-breaking studies employing new nanotechnology-based therapeutic approaches were presented.
Author: Ismail Tontul and Mehmet Torun and Cuneyt Dincer and Hilal Sahin-Nadeem and Ayhan Topuz and Turgay Turna and Feramuz Ozdemir
The objective of this study was to determine volatile compounds in green tea powders produced from a clone of two different teas (Camellia sinensis (L.) O. Kuntze) grown under different shade levels and harvested in two consecutive shooting periods. Both hydrodistillation and solid phase microextraction (SPME) methods were comparatively performed to identify maximum number and amount of volatile compounds. SPME method enables the identification of the greatest number of volatile compounds which principally comprise limonene, α-terpineol and heptanal. A few specific volatile compounds were identified for differentiation of green tea samples depending on the treatments, such as, heptanal in 1st shooting period, ethyl benzene, xylene and benzenacetal for 2nd shooting period, and phytol and tridecane for shading treatments. The treatments were significantly clustered either as tea clones or shooting period by the volatile compounds i.e. linalool, α-terpineol, 3-methylbutanal, 2-methylbutanal and p-cresol, 2,6-di-tert-buthyl determined in hydrodistillation method and tridecane, heptanal, linalool, nonanal, hexanal, α-terpineol, 1-pentanol, pentanal, dimethylsulfide, 2,2,4-trimethylhexane, limonene and 1-hexanol in SPME method as shown by principal component analysis (PCA).