Curing of tea leaves

The common categories of commercial tea – white tea, green tea, Oolong tea and black tea - result from different picking and curing techniques and have nothing to do with plant variety.

The flavor of tea comes from the method of curing and the essential oils in the leaf. Its stimulating and refreshing qualities come from the small amount of theine, chemically the same as caffeine in coffee.

Curing is a process to controlled drying in which the nutrients remaining in the leaf from photosynthesis are used to support the declining life processes of the leaf.

About 78% of total tea consumed represents black tea, a popular drink in many western countries which contains mainly oxidized polyphenols, whereas approximately 20% is green tea, which is primarily consumed in China and Japan and contains mostly non-oxidized polyphenols, more particularly catechins.
Curing of tea leaves