Camellia Sinensis
BOTANICAL NAME: Camellia sinensis ( ca-MEEL-e-a sy-NEN-sis )
COMMON NAME: Tea
FAMILY: Theaceae
Medium sized, rounded shrub. 4 - 6' tall. Grows in zones 7
- 9. Nichols Garden Nursery claims tea will grow in zones
6-10.
Tea likes full sun to shade and adaptable to soil type. Does
not grow well in excessive water. Is tolerant of heat and
drought, much better than most plants in the Theaceae family.
As a landscape plant it works well in shady spots and as a
low growing border.
Solitary flowers or in groups of three in the axils of the
leaves. The flowers have 7 -8 white petals that form a 1 - 1
1/2" diameter flower. Flowers are present in the autumn
(October) but are largely hidden by the foliage. Flowers are
fragrant.
Propagation is by seeds and cuttings. For some reason i was
not able to find tea seeds, but the plants are easy to find.
Tea plants have few pests.
Tea is the most widely consumed beverage aside from water.
The best tea is grown at higher elevations and more slowly.
The new leaves are harvested for tea and either diried for
green tea or processed for black tea.
Black tea is produced by many methods and often involves
fermentation. A simple method to produce oolong tea is to
roll the leaf between the hands and let sit for 3 hours. For
a blacker tea repeat the rolling and resting process three
times.
Health effects
Aside from the stimulatory effects of caffeine, green teas in
particular have been reported to have a wide variety of
health benefits. Some of the claims can best be described as
fanciful, however there is increasing experimental evidence
that teas may give some protection against certain cancers
and heart disease. Studies using animal models have shown
that green tea can protect against a number of events
associated with the development of cancers, and evidence is
appearing that black tea may be equally beneficial. In
humans the situation is far less clear.
Green tea does seem to be associated with a lower risk of
lung cancer in Japan, however black tea may not offer the
same protection. It has been reported that green tea may be
associated with a lower blood cholesterol in humans and may
thus lower the risk of heart disease. Studies with cultured
human cells and animals suggest that the catechins can
increase the removal of cholesterol from the blood by a
receptor mediated mechanism.
Fresh leaves contain: 22.2% polyphenols, 17.2% protein, 4.3%
caffeine, 27.0% crude fiber, 0.5% starch, 3.5% reducing
sugars, 6. 5% pectins, 2.0% ether extract and 5.6% ash.
Per 100 g, 293 calories, 8.0 g H2O, 24.5 g protein, 2.8 g
fat, 58.8 g total carbohydrate, 8.7 g fiber, 5.9 g ash, 327
mg Ca, 313 mg P, 24.3 mg Fe, 50 mg Na, 2700 ug beta-carotene
equivalent, 0.07 mg thiamine, 0.8 mg riboflavin, 7.6 mg
niacin, and 9 mg ascorbic acid.
Ascorbic acid, present in the fresh leaf, is destroyed in
making black tea. Malic and oxatic acids occur, along with
kaempferol, quercitrin, theophylline, theobromine, xanthine,
hypoxanthine, adenine, gums, dextrins, and inositol. Chief
components of the volatile oil (0.007-0.014% fresh weight of
leaves) is hexenal, hexenol, and lower aldehydes,
butyraldehyde, isobuteraldehyde, isovaleraldehyde, as well as
n-hexyl, benzyl and phenylethyl alcohols, phenols, cresol,
hexoic acid, n-octyl alcohol, geraniol, linalool,
acetophenone, benzyl alcohol, and citral. Does this mean
that the leaves contain more dangerous substances than herb
tea? More properly it only indicates that Camellia has been
more intensively studied than most herb teas. Certain
constituents, especially catechin, epigallocatechin, and
epigallocatechin gallate are said to have antitoxidative
properties (Leung, 1980).
According to Tyler, there is evidence indicating that the
condensed catechin tannin of tea is linked to high rates of
esophageal cancer in some areas where tea is heavily
consumed. This effect apparently may be overcome by adding
milk which binds the tannin preventing its deleterious
effects.
caffeine comparisom (6 oz cup):
expresso coffee: 310mg
boiled coffee: 100mg
instant-coffee: 65mg
tea: 10-50mg
cocoa: 13mg
cola: 25mg
coca cola: 20mg
mate: 25-50mg
pepsi cola: 10mg
Tea tolerates drought, frost, low pH, peat, shade, and slope.
Because of the long cultivation of tea, many cultivars have
been developed, based on flavor of the tea-producing
substances, size, of leaves and adaptability to climatic
conditions. Named teas often depend on where they originate,
or what they are blended with.
Tea requires 4-12 years to bear seed. At first, seedlings
should be shaded. Seedlings 6-12 months old may be
outplanted with a ball of earth, while much older seedlings
can be planted bare-root.
Terminal sprouts with 2-3 leaves are usually hand-plucked, 10
kg of green shoots (75-80% water) produce about 2.5 kg dried
tea. Bushes are plucked every 7-15 days, depending on the
development of the tender shoots. Leaves that are slow in
development always make a better flavored product.
Various techniques are used to produce black teas, usually
during July and August when solar heat is most intense.
Freshly picked leaves are spread very thinly and evenly on
trays and placed in the sun until the leaves become very
flaccid, requiring 13 hours or more, depending on heat and
humidity. Other types of black teas are made by withering
the leaves, rolling them into a ball and allowing to ferment
in a damp place for 3-6 hours, at which time the ball turns a
yellowish copper color, with an agreeable fruity one. If
this stage goes too far, the leaves become sour and unfit for
tea. After fermenting, the ball is broken up and the leaves
spread out on trays and dried in oven until leaves are
brittle and have slight odor of tea. Tea is then stored in
air- tight tin boxes or cans. As soon as harvested, leaves
are steamed or heated to dry the natural sap and prevent
oxidation to produce green tea. Still soft and pliable after
the initial treatment, the leaves are then rolled and
subjected to further firing. Thus dried, the leaves are
sorted into various grades of green tea.
Tea flowers are largely, if not completely, self-sterile and
require cross- pollination by insects to produce seed.
There is a webpage devoted to the cultivation of Camellia
sinensis, but probably more as an ornamental than for tea.
You can find it at: gopher://
bluehen.ags.udel.edu:71/hh/.broadleafeg/.descriptions/c_sinens.html
You may be able to find information there, and more
importantly, help from the university about cultivating it.
As to a source of tea seed, there is a US tea grower that I
am aware of, called American Classic Tea, that sells the
plants. They may be able to help you. A contact name there
is Sarah Fleming McLester, located at 6617 Maybank Highway,
Wadmalaw Island, SC 29487; telephone 803-559- 0383.
You may decaffeinate your own tea by pouring the water over
the tea leaves, waiting 30 seconds, then pouring off that
first infusion. This removes roughly 35 mg of caffeine,
reducing the total amount to about 20 mg. per 6 oz. Don't
exceed that 30-second time frame, however, or you will lose
much of the vitamins and antioxidant effects, as well as
flavor. Depending on the kind of black tea you are drinking,
this method will lose about 4-10% of the flavor, which I
think is acceptable in order to reduce caffeine. Your other
options would be to purchase decaffeinated black tea, which
the Tea Shop also sells, or to drink green or semi-black tea.
I usually confine my tea-drinking to green tea after noon,
unless I need a pick-me-up.:-) This only works for loose tea,
however, not for tea bags. Tea bags are designed to brew
very quickly -- the leaves are in very small pieces, called
"dust", which enables the tea to brew more quickly. You
would lose much too much flavor, of what little there is,
with a tea bag.
Why isn't tea grown and consumed often in N. America?
* Most people are familiar with tea bags which produce
a low quality tea.
* Tea requires time to learn and appreciate and this does
not appeal to Americans.
* Education and traditions of tea use has not developed
and it is not supported in the culture.
The genus Camellia, to which the tea plant Camellia Sinensis
belongs, includes some of our most sought after ornamental
plants. The flowers of most Camellia species have no
exceptional fragrance which is attractive to humans.
The tea plant is the only Camellia whose bud leaves produce
the delicate flavor most discerning tea drinkers are
accustomed to experiencing. Because of this, and in the
past, plant taxonomists gave it a separate ranking, in the
genus, of Thea Sinensis. The species name sinensis is Latin
for Chinese. Thus, its original name, thea sinensis.
The tea plant, which is a broad-leafed evergreen, grows best
in areas where weather patterns range from temperate to
tropic -- and like other camellia plants, grows well in many
parts of the United States where weather fits its needs. In
fact, tea production has been tried in the United States
(there is still one active and productive Tea Estate here).
Most of the tea plants were introduced into this country
during the last century, but commercial production did not
prove practical since tea requires an extreme amount of hand
labor and picking
