Tea is the most consumed drink in the world after water. Green tea is a 'non-fermented' tea, and contains more catechins, than black tea or oolong tea. Catechins are in vitro and in vivo strong antioxidants. In addition, its content of certain minerals and vitamins increases the antioxidant potential of this type of tea. Since ancient times, green tea has been considered by the traditional Chinese medicine as a healthful beverage. Recent human studies suggest that green tea may contribute to a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease and some forms of cancer, as well as to the promotion of oral health and other physiological functions such as anti-hypertensive effect, body weight control, antibacterial and antivirasic activity, solar ultraviolet protection, bone mineral density increase, anti-fibrotic properties, and neuroprotective power. Increasing interest in its health benefits has led to the inclusion of green tea in the group of beverages with functional properties. However, although all the evidence from research on green tea is very promising, future studies are necessary to fully understand its contributions to human health, and advise its regular consumption in Western diets, in which green tea consumption is nowadays limited and sporadic.

Levels of essential elements with antioxidant activity, as well as catechins, gallic acid, and caffeine levels, in a total of 45 samples of different teas commercialized in Spain have been evaluated. Chromium, manganese, selenium, and zinc were determined in the samples mineralized with HNO 3 and V 2 O 5 , using ETAAS as the analytical technique. The reliability of the procedure was checked by analysis of a certified reference material. Large variations in the trace element composition of teas were observed. The levels ranged from 50.6 to 371.4 ng/g for Cr, from 76.1 to 987.6 µg/g for Mn, from 48.5 to 114.6 ng/g for Se, and from 56.3 to 78.6 ng/g for Zn. The four major catechins [(-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), (-)-epigallocatechin (EGC), (-)-epicatechin gallate (ECG), and (-)-epicatechin (EC)], gallic acid (GA), and caffeine were simultaneously determined by a simple and fast HPLC method using a photodiode array detector. In all analyzed samples, EGCG ranged from 1.4 to 103.5 mg/g, EGC from 3.9 to 45.3 mg/g, ECG from 0.2 to 45.6 mg/g, and EC ranged from 0.6 to 21.2 mg/g. These results indicated that green tea has a higher content of catechins than both oolong and fermented teas (red and black teas); the fermentation process during tea manufacturing reduces the levels of catechins significantly. Gallic acid content ranged from 0.039 to 6.7 mg/g; the fermentation process also elevated remarkably gallic acid levels in black teas (mean level of 3.9 ( 1.5 mg/g). The amount of caffeine in the analyzed samples ranged from 7.5 to 86.6 mg/g, and the lower values were detected in green and oolong teas. This study will be useful for the appraisal of trace elements and antioxidant components in various teas, and it will also be of interest for people who like drinking this beverage.KEYWORDS: Tea; trace elements; catechins; gallic acid; antioxidants; caffeine INTRODUCTIONTea, a leaf extract of the plant Camellia sinensis, is the second most consumed beverage in the world, with an estimated 18-20 billion cups consumed daily and, for instance, an estimated average consumption of 1 L/person/day in the United Kingdom (1). Depending on the manufacturing process, teas are classified into three major types: nonfermented green tea (produced by drying and steaming the fresh leaves and thus, no fermentation, i.e., oxidation, occurs); semifermented oolong tea (produced when the fresh leaves are subjected to a partial fermentation stage before drying); and fermented black and red (pu-erh) teas (which undergo a full fermentation stage before drying and steaming, although the fermentation of black tea is oxidation and that of pu-erh tea is attained using microorganisms) (2).Originating from China, tea has gained the world's taste in the past 2000 years. Initially, it was consumed only by Chinese monks, but its use spread to other regions, such as Great Britain, which allowed its effective diffusion to Western countries. Nowadays, consumption of tea is part of people's daily routine, as an everyday drink and as a therapeutic aid in m...

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Abstract. Govers [1992] showed that the flow velocity in rills eroding loose, nonlayered materials could be predicted from knowledge of discharge only (without significant slope or soil effect). The objective of this paper is to investigate to what extent the observed slope independence of flow velocity in eroding rills can be explained by the interaction between rill bed roughness and flow hydraulics. In a laboratory study, two situations were compared: (1) rills which can freely erode a uniform soil layer and (2) rills with a fixed bed geometry. During the experiments, rill discharge and flow velocity were recorded. After each experiment, a detailed topographic survey of the rill bed was carried out using a laser scanner. From these data the main hydraulic variables (mean values of flow depth, wetted perimeter, and hydraulic radius) were estimated. The experiments confirmed the slope independence of rill flow velocities on mobile beds. When the bed is fixed, the flow velocity in rills is clearly slope-dependent. The slope independence of flow velocity on mobile beds is due to a feedback between rill bed morphology and flow conditions. The roughness amplitude (which was assessed from the standard deviation of corrected height values) and the frequency of macroroughness elements (which was assessed by counting the number of peaks per unit length in a previously simplified longitudinal profiles) both increase and tend to counteract the effect of the increase in slope gradient on rill flow velocity. The final rill flow velocity appears to be characterized by a constant average Froude number.