ABSTRACT
The popular use of the medicinal plants is part of the cultural heritage of a village. This knowledge is transmitted from generation to generation without a record and some rural communities consider the traditional medicine as the main axis of their health system. Camellia sinensis is a plant from China, but now is harvested around the world and is one of the main herbs that is used in the traditional Chinese medicine. In the last years, the consumption of natural beverages is increased due to their phenolic composition and biological properties like antioxidant, anticancer activity, prevent the coronary heart diseases and is used for the treatment of different diseases like rheumatism, inflammation of respiratory and intestinal tract, gastric disturbance and venereal disease. Also, the presence or absence of some compounds is due to the type of tea, processing, date of harvest, extraction method and others factors that need of consider. In this chapter, an overview of the most recent advances about of green, white, black and red tea from Camellia sinensis. Their properties, activities, main phenolic compounds and extract methods are presented.
