Kenyan teas are rich in antioxidants

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dc.contributor.author Wachira, Francis N.
dc.contributor.author Kamunya, S. M.
dc.date.accessioned 2017-01-27T10:01:42Z
dc.date.available 2017-01-27T10:01:42Z
dc.date.issued 2005
dc.identifier.citation Tea 2005 Vol.26 No.2 pp.81-89 ref.37 en_US
dc.identifier.issn 1015-7174
dc.identifier.uri https://www.cabdirect.org/cabdirect/abstract/20073048249
dc.identifier.uri http://repository.seku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/3022
dc.description.abstract Tea is currently the single largest agribusiness in Kenya. Due to its profitability, tea industry has expanded tremendously over the 70 years of its existence in the country. The increase in acreage coupled with the increase in production per unit area has contributed to a glut in black tea in the world market. This has resulted in either stagnation or decline in price of tea. Owing to the 3-fold rise in production cost over the last decade or so, farmers' earnings have consequently declined. This is further aggravated by the fact that Kenyan tea is chiefly sold as a generic product that is blended with other teas of lesser quality elsewhere in the world. Therefore, there is a need to change the way teas from Kenya are marketed to ensure fair return from tea farming enterprises. In order to undertake value addition, branding of raw tea and develop diversified tea products, it is necessary to fully index and describe the types of tea products in Kenya. One way of doing this is by characterizing the active biomolecules in the tea. A study conducted to compare total polyphenols of some selected Kenyan teas with teas from other countries revealed that Kenyan tea germplasm had 7-27% more total polyphenols than germplasm from China, Japan and Taiwan which is traditionally used for green, oolong and pouchang tea manufacture and extraction of total polyphenols. Other than indicating that Kenyan teas are rich in antioxidants, the high levels of total polyphenols can be used to market Kenyan tea for premium prices. en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher Tea Research Foundation of Kenya en_US
dc.title Kenyan teas are rich in antioxidants en_US
dc.type Article en_US


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