- Family
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Theaceae.
- Habitat
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Cultivated in Assam, Darjeeling, Travancore, the Nilgiris, Malabar, Bengal, Dehra Dun and Kumaon.
- English
-
Tea.
- Unani
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Chaai, Shaahi, Shaayi.
- Siddha/Tamil
-
Thaeyilai.
- Action
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Stimulant, diuretic, astringent. In China, used for diarrhoea and dysentery (causes gastrointestinal upsets and nervous irritability when consumed in excess). Green tea: anticancer effects have been observed in Chinese green tea, Camellia thea, extract; the extract of Japanese green tea showed antihepatotoxic effects.
Important constituents of leaf buds and very young leaves are: caffeine, with a much smaller amount of other xanthines (theophylline and theobromine); tannins (the main tannin in green tea is (−)-epigallocatechin); flavonoids, quercetin, kaempferol. The stimulant and diuretic are due to caffeine content, the astringency due to the tannins.
Drinking tea lowers thiamine and thiamine diphosphate losses in urine and blood serum respectively but increases niacin losses. Hot water...