Medicinal Uses

Medical uses

Main article: Health effects of tea

• The leaves have been used in traditional Chinese medicine and other medical systems to treatasthma (functioning as a bronchodilator), angina pectoris, peripheral vascular disease, andcoronary artery disease.
• Tea extracts have become a field of interest, due to their notional antibacterial activity. The preservation of processed organic food and the treatment of persistent bacterial infections are particularly being investigated.
• Green tea leaves and extracts have shown to be effective against bacteria responsible for bad breath.
• The tea component epicatechin gallate is being researched because in vitro experiments showed it can reverse methicillin resistance in bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus. If confirmed, this means the combined intake of a tea extract containing this component might also enhance the effectiveness of methicillin treatment against some resistant bacteria in vivo.

See also