Tea: A Nature’s Blessing turned Toxin
Tea is not only a hot drink, but it has gained a status of cosmopolitan hot drink, so much so that it becomes a facilitator of conversation among the people. After water, it is the most widely consumed drink in the world [ 1 ]. Tea is a processed product of leaves and leaf buds of a species of evergreen shrub or small tree of Camellia sinensis ver sinensis , or ver assamica [ 2 ]. It is consumed in different forms, namely, oolong, green, black and Ilex tea depending on post-harvest treatment and chemical components. Chemistry of Tea However, here the author is only concerned with the health issues related to consumption of tea on the basis of complex chemical correlations with human physiology. Indeed, the chemistry of tea has to see in at two different stages, the chemical composition of leaves & the same in processed tea. However, the conversion of chemicals during processing is a function of temperature, total dissolved solids, pH, etc. Chemical compo...