Tea–the elements of a cuppa

Mechanism of the combined anti-bacterial effect of green tea extract and NaCl against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli O157:H7

“…Many different food additives are currently used to improve the shelf life of food (Brul & Coote,1999), but consumers tend to have a negative image of these additives, even when they have been shown to be safe, and prefer components of natural origin. Given this situation, catechins, which are key ingredients of green tea that has been enjoyed by people since time immemorial (Stagg, 1980), are widely expected to find applications not just in foodstuffs, but in other fields as well, as they are extremely safe and readily accepted by consumers (Mendel, 2007). Catechins have various functionalities, including anti-bacterial (Hamilton-Miller, 1995;Juneja, Bari, Inatsu, Kawamoto, Friedman, 2007), anticancer (Ahmad, 1999;Buschman, 1998), and anti-obesity activities activity (Maki et al, 2009;Murase, Nagasawa, Suzuki, Hase, & Tokimitsu, 2002).…”

Antimicrobial properties of tea (Camellia sinensis L.)

“…More than 300 such components have been reported in black tea leaf (39), and more than 100 such components have been reported in green tea (21). Kubo et al (21) found some of these to be microbiologically active, but not at cup-of-tea concentrations.…”

“…For an insight into the difficulties in determining the nature of the constituent(s) of tea that may be responsible for the various biological activities described above, a brief description of the chemistry of tea is essential (20,39,40).…”

Antimicrobial Activities of Tocklai Vegetative Tea Clones

“…Also more than 300 volatile flavour components have been reported in black tea [20], and more than 100 such components have been reported in green tea and found some of these to be microbiologically active [21]. Some combinations of catechins with antibiotics also exhibit synergistic activities and/or are effective against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.…”