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Article: Tea time for your health.
- Article from:
- Ebony
- Article date:
- July 1, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Johnson Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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For many years tea has been associated with positive health benefits. There are many varieties of tea. All tea comes from the Camellia sinensis plant, the fresh leaves of the tea plant are processed and the their level of contact with oxygen determine the type of tea. When oxidation takes place, tea leaves undergo natural chemical reaction that results in distinctive characteristics, color and taste.
Green tea is not oxidized, and the leaves are steamed, rolled and dried, very little processing. On the other hand, black tea is allowed to oxidize and is fully fermented during this processing. Oolong tea fails somewhere between green and black teas, in that the ...