Green Tea Plant
The Wonderful Green Tea Plant
Have you ever wondered what a tea plant looks like when you
take it everyday? You may have, or may have not. Tea is the
second most popular drink consumed by humans, next to water,
according to research. But out of all those who drink tea,
not many of them know how and where the tea came from.
Green tea is made up of about one-fifth of the choice of
the whole population of tea drinkers. And that is why green
tea industry is doing quite well in today’s world. Green
tea plants are grown everywhere suitable, and most of them
are blossoming. The tea plant, also known as Camellia sinensis
scientifically, which is the one that produces the green tea,
as the name would suggest.
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 such as China, Argentina, Japan, Malaysia, India,
Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
and Tanzania. They are usually about the height of a full-grown
adult, although they can grow five times taller than that
in the wild.
Usually, these green tea plants are found only in places
where there is an plentiful supply of warm and rainy conditions.
Most of the time, they are grown in high altitude areas, such
as hilltops and slopes and so on.
Once they are matured, the leaves and the leaf buds are harvested
from the green tea plant. Then the green tea will be produced
by steaming or roasting the harvested leaves as soon as they
are plucked, or, to make it better, they are rolled and dried
to remove any remaining moisture as well.
The same green tea plant also produces other tea types, such
as the black tea and oolong. However green tea is different
due to the way it is processed and oxidized is not the same
as the other two. Among all these choices, green tea is still
the best, because it contains the highest level of polyphenols.
These polyphenols are good antioxidants, which are good at
preventing cardiovascular diseases, atherosclerosis, cancer,
and many other aging-related diseases. Green tea also helps
reduce the cholesterol levels in our body and prevents the
hardening of the arteries and hence the onset of ischemic
heart diseases.
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