Herbal tea is a beverage created from plant parts – leaves, stems, flowers, seeds, fruits or bark – of various species, typically steeped in hot water to extract their antioxidant benefits. Herbal tea differs from traditional Camellia sinensis (black, green, pu-erh, oolong and white) tea in that it does not contain Camellia sinensis leaves at all; rather, people drink herbal tea to obtain health benefits that have not yet been fully understood such as antioxidation effects such as antioxidation effects associated with antioxidation of antioxidants; anti-inflammatory; anti-diabetic; anticancer properties; anticancer properties as well as neuroprotective properties that remain unknown due to not knowing all chemical components responsible for their existence or properties associated with these effects yet; numerous studies have reported beneficial properties associated with herbal tea such as antioxidation, antioxidation effects; antioxidation; anti inflammatory; anti diabetes anticancer properties as well as neuroprotective properties without fully understanding what constituents responsible.
Medicinal herbs are widely utilized in herbal tea, an increasingly popular beverage boasting various health-related claims. These could be linked to antioxidant polyphenols present in herbal tea or bioactive compounds present in it or both.
Polyphenols are complex secondary metabolites with well-documented antioxidant properties that are abundantly present in fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants. Most commonly found as flavonoids and phenolic acids. Herbal teas are an especially rich source of polyphenols; regular consumption has been linked with reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, inflammatory conditions and age-related diseases.
Flavonoids are phytochemicals with antioxidative and antidiabetic properties found in herbs like hibiscus, buckthorn, red clover, ginger and chamomile. Research indicates they play a key role in cancer prevention and treatment as well as inflammation management, digestive disorders and other health concerns.
Terpenoids are an intriguing class of phenolic compounds with wide-ranging biological activities. Herbal teas are often rich sources of these terpenoids, such as Oleanolic Acid, Ursolic Acid, Linalool, Friedelin Acetophenone and Ilexgenin B (to name just some of the more prominent). Research on these compounds have demonstrated antitumor and antidiabetic effects in vitro as well.
Furthermore, studies have demonstrated the phenolic compounds found in herbal tea to have antibacterial, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties as well as an ability to improve immune function by activating natural killer cells and enhance their activity.
Although the herbal tea industry is expanding quickly, in-depth research must be conducted in order to connect their biological activity to traditional uses and develop them into functional foods. Furthermore, contamination and toxicity studies need to be performed on various herbal tea varieties, providing relevant enterprises with scientific support in producing and selling these beverages commercially.