Assessment of Cr, Cu, Ni, Cd, and Ca in an Aromatic Beverage of Cured Leaves of the Tea Plant, Camellia sinensis

Abstract

Tea is the most common beverage used in everyday life by everyone. Tea contains a large number of possibly bioactive chemicals, including flavonoids, amino acids, vitamins, caffeine and several polysaccharides. It has been suggested that green and black tea may protect against cancer, though the catechins found in green tea are thought to be more effective in preventing certain obesity-related cancers such as liver and colorectal cancer, while both green and black teas may protect against cardiovascular disease. Negative effects of tea drinking are centered around the consumption of sugar used to sweeten the tea. Those who consume very large quantities of brick tea may experience fluorosis. Numerous recent epidemiological studies have been conducted to investigate the effects of green tea consumption on the incidence of human cancers. These studies suggest significant protective effects of green tea against oral, pharyngeal, oesophageal, prostate, digestive, urinary tract, pancreatic, bladder, skin, lung, colon, breast, and liver cancers, and lower risk for cancer metastasis and recurrence and a variety of health effects have been proposed and investigated .In present study six tea samples of different brands (Broke Bond Taza, Dhadkan, Patakha, Razana, Red lebel and Tata tea) were analysed for Cu, Ni, Pb, Cd, Cr and Ca. Trace metals like Cu, Ni, Pb, Cd, Cr and Ca were found to be within the permissible limit given by WHO.