ABSTRACT
Chinese herbal or medicinal tea is essentially an herbal mixture made from leaves, seeds, and/or roots of various plants [1]. Herbal tea is a medicinal drink and a traditional beverage that originated from China over 2000 years ago. The herbal tea is usually caffeine free and is may be divided into single component (e.g., mulberry tea, Tochu tea [Eucommia ulmoides leaves], ginseng tea, and Hsian-tsao [Mesona procumbens Hemsl.] tea) or mixtures of several ingredients (e.g., Guangdong herbal tea [well-known as Wanglaoji-Liang-Cha]). Liu et al. [2] demonstrated that herbal drinks consist of different plant parts, such as leaf, root, fruit, ower, branch, bud, pollen, stigma, pith, bulb, tuber, kernel, stem, peel, aerial part, seed, bark, and rhizome from herbaceous and woody plants. The root, whole plant, fruit, ower, seed, aerial part, and leaf were the common plant parts used for making herbal teas. In single-component herbal tea, mulberry tea inhibits postprandial hyperglycemia in type 2 diabetic patients [3]. Tochu tea has a potential antimutagenicity due to (1) the suppressing effect on the urine mutagenicity after ingestion of raw sh and cooked beef and (2) the clastogen-suppressing effects as evidenced in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and mice [4,5]. It has also been indicated that ginseng tea has a cerebroprotective action against global and focal ischemic injury [6]. Many studies have shown that Hsian-tsao herbal tea has several health benets (e.g., antioxidant, antimutagenic, hepatoprotective, antibrosis, renal protective, myocardium protective, antihypertensive, and anti-inammatory activities) and is a good choice for a beverage [7-14]. Furthermore, He et al. [15] revealed that Guangdong tea consists of multiple Chinese herbs, including Ilex asprella (Hook. Et Arn.) Champ. ex Benth., Lophatherum gracile Brongn., Vitex negundo L., Microcos paniculata L., Oroxylum indicum (L.) Vent., Rosa laevigata Michx.,
47.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 583 47.2 Nutritional Characteristics ........................................................................................................... 585 47.3 Bioactives and Antioxidant Efcacy ............................................................................................ 585 47.4 Health Effects ............................................................................................................................... 586
47.4.1 Antioxidant Activity ........................................................................................................ 587 47.4.2 Preventing DNA Damage ................................................................................................ 587 47.4.3 Antimutagenic Action ..................................................................................................... 587 47.4.4 Hepatoprotective Action .................................................................................................. 588 47.4.5 Preventing Liver Fibrosis ................................................................................................. 588 47.4.6 Renal Protective Activity ................................................................................................ 588 47.4.7 Protection of Myocardium ............................................................................................... 588 47.4.8 Antihypertensive Action .................................................................................................. 589 47.4.9 Anti-Inammatory Activity ............................................................................................ 589
47.5 Novel Products/Formulations and Future Trends ........................................................................ 589 47.6 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 590 References .............................................................................................................................................. 590
Lygodium japonicum (Thumb.) Sw., Desmodium styracifolium (Osb.) Merr., Polygonum chinense L., and Helicteres angustifolia L. This tea has been used as a health-promoting beverage for prevention of infectious diseases, relieving fever, alleviating pain, and restoring strength in Hong Kong and China for nearly 200 years [1]. Recently, Chinese medicinal materials used in functional food or beverage are scoring an increasingly positive trend. Hence, we summarize some common Chinese medicinal materials and point out the part(s) of plant used in beverage and herbal tea [16], as summarized in Table 47.1. Importantly, Hsian-tsao is usually used as one of the major ingredients in Chinese traditional herbal tea such as Wanglaoji-Liang-Cha, which is a popular herbal beverage in China, and in other herbal teas. The whole plant of Hsian-tsao can be used for food and beverage. It is also a widespread drink and a healthy beverage in Taiwan.
