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Green Tea Basics |
Green Tea (Home) > Green Tea Basics > Green Tea Plant Green Tea Plant: Something So Wonderful!Have you ever wondered what a tea plant looks like when you are drinking tea every day? Maybe you have, but you probably wouldn't have seen it anyway. Tea is the second most popular drink consumed by humans, besides water, according to research. But out of all those who drink tea, not many people know how and where the tea came from. Green tea comprises about one-fifth of the choice of the whole population of tea drinkers. And that is why green tea industry is pretty much doing well at the moment. Green tea plants are grown everywhere suitable, and most of them are blossoming. The tea plant, also known as Camellia sinensis scientifically, is the one that produces the green tea, as the name would suggest. The Bushy PlantBut have you seen a green tea plant? Well, basically this plant is a variation of evergreen bushes with glossy green leaves and small white to pink flowers. Most of these plants can be found in commercial tea plantations in countries like China, Argentina, Japan, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Tanzania. They are generally about the height of a full-grown adult, although they can grow five times taller than that in the wild. Normally these green tea plants are found only in places where there is an abundant supply of warm and rainy conditions. And most of the time, they are grown in high altitude areas, such as hilltops and slopes and so on. Once they reach maturity, the leaves and the leaf buds are harvested from the green tea plant. Then the green tea is produced by steaming or roasting the harvested leaves as soon as they are plucked; to be more efficient, they are rolled and dried to remove any remaining moisture as well. The same green tea plant produces other tea types as well, namely the black tea and oolong. However green tea is different because the way it is processed and oxidized is not the same as the former two. Of all these three, it is generally known that the green tea is the best, because it contains the highest level of polyphenols. These polyphenols are antioxidants, which help to prevent cardiovascular diseases, atherosclerosis, cancer, and many other aging-related diseases. Green tea also helps lower the cholesterol levels in our body and prevents the hardening of the arteries and thus the coming of ischemic heart diseases. This herb is also an antibacterial agent, which can help stop diseases like gingivitis and periodontal decay.
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