What is there in the ancient drink that has become part of Eastern and Western culture, and is the danger of the climate crisis threatening it as well?
It is fragrant and comes in different colors, the Queen of England does not give it up, the Indians love it with milk and spices and we pull it out of the closet especially when winter makes signs that it is here. Does the tea really come to us from China? How will the climate crisis affect it and why should it be drunk? Our researchers explain, surprise and refute some myths.
When the Chinese mystics met the tea plant
We will not hold you in suspense: it turns out that the popular drink was sipped by the Indian Buddhist monks two thousand years ago, long before it became an integral part of Chinese culture and later also of Western cultures.
“The tea plant was known in China as early as the first centuries BC, but recent studies show that the custom of drinking tea came to China from India,” explains Prof. Meir Shachar of the East Asian Studies Department at the Lester and Sally Antin Faculty of Humanities. Of Indian culture on Chinese religion and literature.
“In the first centuries AD Buddhism came to China from India and the Buddhist monks, who wanted to stay awake during the meditation, used to drink tea. The Chinese monks saw that it was good and adopted the custom, which spread from there to the whole Chinese population. Tea and rice are “not entirely accurate” in China.
Indeed, the origin of the word tea in most world languages is Chinese. “In northern China it is called cha, hence the Russian chai, and in southern China it is pronounced as cha, and from here the tea came to Hebrew and English,” Prof. Shachar reveals.
Sip and enjoy. Buddhist monks on a tea break
Tea is tea?
Buddhist monks have long understood that tea holds them cities, and today, thanks to science, we know how to explain how the active ingredients of the plant affect us.
“Contrary to many people’s beliefs, all teas are made from the same plant – from the leaves and buds of the camellia sinensis plant (Camellia sinensis). Although there are several varieties for the current plant, the types of tea we are familiar with: white, green, oolong and black differ according to the part of the plant from which they are produced and how they are processed. Green tea for example has less caffeine than black tea. The leaves intended for green tea undergo a minimal drying process and the leaves intended for black tea undergo drying and fermentation, “explains Guy Shalmon, clinical dietitian and sportsman, a physical educator and exercise physiologist at the Sylvan Adams Institute for Sports.
Healthy or not?
“Tea leaves contain substances known as flavonoids (vitamin) P), But their composition differs from one tea to another. For example, in green tea there is a higher concentration of a substance called epigloctechin 3-gallate, known for short EGCG, Than her black daughter who undergoes a lengthy processing process. “This substance has antioxidant activity (antioxidant), and various health effects are attributed to it,” says Guy.
“On the other hand, tea may reduce the absorption of iron-derived iron minerals. The polyphenols (compounds with antioxidant properties) that exist in tea leaves may bind inorganic iron mineral and keep it away with the feces. To prevent this, do not give up drinking tea, but. “Just separate the time of drinking from eating plant-rich foods rich in iron,” he adds.
Is this the end of the tea age?
The climate crisis brings with it many changes and different regions of the world are experiencing the opposite effects. From heat, drought and droughts to floods, storms and extreme cold, which could threaten the continued survival of agricultural crops as they are known to us today. There are plants that have crossed oceans and been absorbed on other continents, but what about those that need special conditions to thrive? Can the tea plant survive the changes taking place around it?
“A plant can adapt to new conditions up to a certain limit,” says Prof. Yelovsky of the School of Plant Science and Food Security at the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, who studies plant development mechanisms and their response to environmental stresses. Tomato varieties that consume less water, and still deliver the same amounts of fruit while maintaining its quality.
“Tea is a crop that grows in very rainy areas. Therefore, it is not possible to grow it in an area like Israel, for example. You can usually see tea plantations on hills, where the weather is moist and cool enough and the depth of the soil deep enough.”
Like many plants, tea requires from the soil on which it grows conditions that are customized for it: deep and airy soil rich in minerals, and an optimal temperature range between 18 and 20 degrees. “Tea is sensitive to cold, dryness, humidity and lighting conditions. For example, high humidity impairs the quality of the tea while periods of dryness increase its quality, and growing at high altitudes increases the quality of the tea but lowers the amount of crop,” explains Prof. Yelovsky.
The tea is grown in Asia, Africa and South America. The six largest tea producers in the world are China, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Turkey. So what happens if growing conditions in East and Southeast Asia change? Prof. Yelovsky explains that it is necessary to adapt varieties to their growing areas. “What is true here is not necessarily true elsewhere, and what is true in East and Southeast Asia will not necessarily be true for Kenya or Turkey for example. Even if we manage to copy a tumor from place to place – it is not certain we will be able to maintain its qualities and taste,”
When we drink Earl Gray tea we expect a very specific taste, and if the same tree grows elsewhere, whose temperature conditions may be the same as the original habitat but the soil is not – we will witness a change in the taste of the product. This is also one of the reasons why drinking Japanese green is different in taste and dying Chinese green for example.
To the tense question of whether in a few years we can only tell our children that there was once a drink called tea, Prof. Yelovsky answers that it is possible to relax. “Even if the growing areas experience floods – the tea plantations are on the hills and mountains so flooding will not be their problem.” Another good news is that unlike many crops that depend on pollen to develop fruit – the tea plant is less reliant on this multiplication path. “The use is made of its leaves and not of flowers or fruits and can be propagated by pruning (cutting a branch from a mature plant called a ‘mother plant’ and creating a new plant through rooting). This method also ensures genetic uniformity of the ‘son plant’, with all that implies,” he Concludes.
In conclusion, we asked Guy Salmon about which tea (if any), he recommends to female and male students ahead of the exam period. “Honestly there is no unique advantage or necessary need to drink tea during a test period. You can drink any type of tea you want and you should vary each time in a different type. If the need for caffeine is the consideration then choosing black tea would be appropriate, because it has the highest caffeine concentration. Black contains 60-40 mg of caffeine in a drink, green tea contains only 20-15 mg of caffeine. But compared to coffee, the amount of caffeine in tea is lower. The amount of caffeine in coffee drinks ranges from 60 mg to 150 mg per cup. “Drink, depending on the type of coffee, so the effect of caffeine in coffee drinks is stronger than that in tea drinks.”
So if the tests are not an excuse, let’s use a rainy day to pour some good chai masala or a good Earl Gray cup, to take a 5 minute break from the crazy daily race. Happy International Tea Day!
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