15th December is International Tea Day (https://drlogy.comx`/day/international-tea-day), celebrated by tea-producing countries since2005 to draw global attention to the impact of the tea trade on workers and growers.
Tea has played a role inhuman history, probably starting thousands of years before historical records first appear around 2 millennia ago.
Based on statistics found by Microsoft Copilot, we humans consume 7.3×10⁹ liters of tea a day worldwide, averaging140 cups a year for every adult and child. This makes tea our second most popular beverage after water!
Tea is grown in over 60countries, with China, India, Kenya, and Sri Lanka providing three-quarters of global production. The plantations cover ~5.3 million hectares, and are harvested by around 13 million workers, mostly women.
The tea plant, Camellia sinensis (Theacea family), has hundreds of known cultivars popular indifferent countries. Significantly, tea provides the archetypal herbal extraction method – steeping in hot water; thus, brews of non-tea plants are also called “herbal teas”. Similar methods are used for hundreds of medicinal herbs. We at @Green Mountain Biotech use it as first step in manufacturing our dermocosmetic ingredients.
More than a beverage, tea is also a heavyweight medicinal herb, with many medicinal tea products available. Freshly dried “green” tea is rich in glycosides of catechins and other flavanols. Black tea is fermented before drying, resulting in catechin-gallate complexes and enzymic oxidation of polyphenols to produce the molecules that give black tea its colour. Many tea molecules are antioxidants and/or have clinically-relevant bioactivities. Koch et al (2019) describe phytochemicalchanges that occur when green tea is fermented into black tea, and review the bioactivities relevant to skincare.
How to celebrate Tea Day?
1. Enjoy acuppa, any type made with real Camellia leaves. Milk, sugar and spices are all optional.
2. If so inclined, look for a tea cosmetic product to use (Note: “Tea TREE oil” does not come from tea plants)
3. Most important – remember the tea workers who work hard to provide something we mostly take for granted
Further reading
茶Lu H et al (2016). Earliest tea as evidence for one branch of the Silk Road across the Tibetan Plateau. Scientific reports, 6,18955. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep18955
茶 Koch, W et al (2019).Applications of Tea (Camellia sinensis) and its Active Constituents in Cosmetics. Molecules 24(23), 4277. https://doi.orfg/10.3390/molecules24234277
