Anaerobically treated tea and its hypotensive effects [on rats]
1990
Hakamata, K. (National Research Inst. of Vegetables, Ornamental Plants and Tea, Kanaya, Shizuoka (Japan))
The present paper deals with anaerobically treated tea called "Gabaron tea". In the tea leaves stored under anaerobic conditions, gamma-amminobutyric acid (GABA) and alanine increased considerably, while glutamic acid and aspartic acid decreased. Based on the result of 15N-glutamic acid feeding experiment for tea leaves, it is presumed that glutamic acid may be a source of nitrogen for the increased GABA and alanine. Gabaron tea is manufactured from green tea leaves which are stored under anaerobic conditions to increase GABA, a hypotensive compound. Although Gabaron tea has an undesirable odor, the major taste component of green tea shows small differences. When Gabaron tea is orally given to spontaneously hypertensive rats, their blood pressure decreased significantly as compared with the common green tea and the deionized water group. It is concluded that anaerobic conditions under appropriate time and temperature provide an improved tea containing a large amount of GABA with a relatively good quality. It is estimated that an adequate heating with 110-120 degrees centigrade is effective in reducing the undesirable odor of the Gabaron tea
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Research Information Technology Center
