Comparison of the mineral composition of leaves and infusions of traditional and herbal teas
Most research on teas has focused on organic composition and less attention has been given to the mineral composition. The aim of this study was to examine and compare the mineral compositions (Na, Mg, K, Ca, P, S, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and Al) of eight commonly consumed teas. The teas included three tradi...
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doaj-505371564e26457eb916cf5bf4a28bd02021-04-04T20:05:00ZengAcademy of Science of South AfricaSouth African Journal of Science1996-74892012-01-011081/2Comparison of the mineral composition of leaves and infusions of traditional and herbal teasJana Olivier0Elize Symington1Cornelia Jonker2Isaac Rampedi3Tersia van Eeden4University of South AfricaUniversity of South AfricaUniversity of South AfricaUniversity of JohannesburgUniversity of South AfricaMost research on teas has focused on organic composition and less attention has been given to the mineral composition. The aim of this study was to examine and compare the mineral compositions (Na, Mg, K, Ca, P, S, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and Al) of eight commonly consumed teas. The teas included three traditional black or green teas (from Africa, China and Sri Lanka) and five herbal teas - two from South America (maté and coca) and three from South Africa (rooibos, honeybush and Athrixia phylicoides). Analyses were conducted on five samples of dry tea leaves of each of the teas and their infusions (steeping time: 6 min) using identical techniques in inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). It was found that each tea has a unique mineral profile. Dry tea leaves and their respective infusions also exhibited different mineral profiles. The tea infusions that contained relatively higher concentrations of beneficial minerals were maté, coca and Athrixia. High levels of aluminium were found in the traditional black and green teas whilst rooibos was high in sodium. Although teas are not rich sources of nutrients, the consumption of maté could contribute significantly to dietary manganese requirements.http://192.168.0.118/index.php/sajs/article/view/9779herbal teasAthrixiarooiboshoneybushCamelia sinensisminerals |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Jana Olivier Elize Symington Cornelia Jonker Isaac Rampedi Tersia van Eeden |
spellingShingle |
Jana Olivier Elize Symington Cornelia Jonker Isaac Rampedi Tersia van Eeden Comparison of the mineral composition of leaves and infusions of traditional and herbal teas South African Journal of Science herbal teas Athrixia rooibos honeybush Camelia sinensis minerals |
author_facet |
Jana Olivier Elize Symington Cornelia Jonker Isaac Rampedi Tersia van Eeden |
author_sort |
Jana Olivier |
title |
Comparison of the mineral composition of leaves and infusions of traditional and herbal teas |
title_short |
Comparison of the mineral composition of leaves and infusions of traditional and herbal teas |
title_full |
Comparison of the mineral composition of leaves and infusions of traditional and herbal teas |
title_fullStr |
Comparison of the mineral composition of leaves and infusions of traditional and herbal teas |
title_full_unstemmed |
Comparison of the mineral composition of leaves and infusions of traditional and herbal teas |
title_sort |
comparison of the mineral composition of leaves and infusions of traditional and herbal teas |
publisher |
Academy of Science of South Africa |
series |
South African Journal of Science |
issn |
1996-7489 |
publishDate |
2012-01-01 |
description |
Most research on teas has focused on organic composition and less attention has been given to the mineral composition. The aim of this study was to examine and compare the mineral compositions (Na, Mg, K, Ca, P, S, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu and Al) of eight commonly consumed teas. The teas included three traditional black or green teas (from Africa, China and Sri Lanka) and five herbal teas - two from South America (maté and coca) and three from South Africa (rooibos, honeybush and Athrixia phylicoides). Analyses were conducted on five samples of dry tea leaves of each of the teas and their infusions (steeping time: 6 min) using identical techniques in inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). It was found that each tea has a unique mineral profile. Dry tea leaves and their respective infusions also exhibited different mineral profiles. The tea infusions that contained relatively higher concentrations of beneficial minerals were maté, coca and Athrixia. High levels of aluminium were found in the traditional black and green teas whilst rooibos was high in sodium. Although teas are not rich sources of nutrients, the consumption of maté could contribute significantly to dietary manganese requirements. |
topic |
herbal teas Athrixia rooibos honeybush Camelia sinensis minerals |
url |
http://192.168.0.118/index.php/sajs/article/view/9779 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT janaolivier comparisonofthemineralcompositionofleavesandinfusionsoftraditionalandherbalteas AT elizesymington comparisonofthemineralcompositionofleavesandinfusionsoftraditionalandherbalteas AT corneliajonker comparisonofthemineralcompositionofleavesandinfusionsoftraditionalandherbalteas AT isaacrampedi comparisonofthemineralcompositionofleavesandinfusionsoftraditionalandherbalteas AT tersiavaneeden comparisonofthemineralcompositionofleavesandinfusionsoftraditionalandherbalteas |
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