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The antimicrobial possibilities of green tea

Green tea is a popular drink, especially in Asian countries, although its popularity continues to spread across the globe. The health benefits of green tea, derived from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, have been studied for many years. Fairly recently, researchers have begun to look at th...

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Autor principal: Reygaert, Wanda C.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4138486/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25191312
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2014.00434
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author Reygaert, Wanda C.
author_facet Reygaert, Wanda C.
author_sort Reygaert, Wanda C.
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description Green tea is a popular drink, especially in Asian countries, although its popularity continues to spread across the globe. The health benefits of green tea, derived from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, have been studied for many years. Fairly recently, researchers have begun to look at the possibility of using green tea in antimicrobial therapy, and the potential prevention of infections. The particular properties of catechins found in the tea have shown promise for having antimicrobial effects. There are four main catechins (polyphenols) found in green tea: (-)-epicatechin (EC), (-)-epicatechin-3-gallate (ECG), (-)-epigallocatechin (EGC), and (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). Three of these, ECG, EGC, and EGCG have been shown to have antimicrobial effects against a variety of organisms. These catechins have exhibited a variety of antimicrobial mechanisms. The results of studies on the antimicrobial effects of green tea have shown that the potential for preventive and therapeutic purposes is present. Further data collection on studies performed with human consumption during the course of infections, and studies on the occurrence of infections in populations that consume regular amounts of green tea will be necessary to complete the picture of its antimicrobial possibilities.
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spelling pubmed-41384862014-09-04 The antimicrobial possibilities of green tea Reygaert, Wanda C. Front Microbiol Microbiology Green tea is a popular drink, especially in Asian countries, although its popularity continues to spread across the globe. The health benefits of green tea, derived from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant, have been studied for many years. Fairly recently, researchers have begun to look at the possibility of using green tea in antimicrobial therapy, and the potential prevention of infections. The particular properties of catechins found in the tea have shown promise for having antimicrobial effects. There are four main catechins (polyphenols) found in green tea: (-)-epicatechin (EC), (-)-epicatechin-3-gallate (ECG), (-)-epigallocatechin (EGC), and (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). Three of these, ECG, EGC, and EGCG have been shown to have antimicrobial effects against a variety of organisms. These catechins have exhibited a variety of antimicrobial mechanisms. The results of studies on the antimicrobial effects of green tea have shown that the potential for preventive and therapeutic purposes is present. Further data collection on studies performed with human consumption during the course of infections, and studies on the occurrence of infections in populations that consume regular amounts of green tea will be necessary to complete the picture of its antimicrobial possibilities. Frontiers Media S.A. 2014-08-20 /pmc/articles/PMC4138486/ /pubmed/25191312 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2014.00434 Text en Copyright © 2014 Reygaert. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Microbiology
Reygaert, Wanda C.
The antimicrobial possibilities of green tea
title The antimicrobial possibilities of green tea
title_full The antimicrobial possibilities of green tea
title_fullStr The antimicrobial possibilities of green tea
title_full_unstemmed The antimicrobial possibilities of green tea
title_short The antimicrobial possibilities of green tea
title_sort antimicrobial possibilities of green tea
topic Microbiology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4138486/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25191312
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2014.00434
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