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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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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2014
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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. |
collection | PubMed |
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. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4138486 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2014 |
publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
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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