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Camellia sinensis - Syamaparni
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Tea is an aromatic beverage commonly prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to Asia. After water, it is the most widely consumed drink in the world. There are many different types of tea; some teas, like Darjeeling and Chinese greens, have a cooling, slightly bitter, and astringent flavour, while others have vastly different profiles that include sweet, nutty, floral or grassy notes.
Tea originated in Southwest China, where it was used as a medicinal drink.[1] It was popularized as a recreational drink during the Chinese Tang dynasty, and tea drinking spread to other East Asian countries.
Description
Camellia sinensis is an evergreen plant that grows mainly in tropical and subtropical climates. Some varieties can also tolerate marine climates and are cultivated as far north as Cornwall in the United Kingdom, Perthshire in Scotland, Washington state in the United States, and Vancouver Island in Canada. In the Southern Hemisphere, tea is grown as far south as Hobart on the Australian island of Tasmania and Waikato in New Zealand.
Tea plants are propagated from seed and cuttings; about 4 to 12 years are needed for a plant to bear seed and about three years before a new plant is ready for harvesting. In addition to a zone 8 climate or warmer, tea plants require at least 127 cm (50 in) of rainfall a year and prefer acidic soils. Many high-quality tea plants are cultivated at elevations of up to 1,500 m (4,900 ft) above sea level. Though at these heights the plants grow more slowly, they acquire a better flavour.
A tea plant will grow into a tree of up to 16 m (52 ft) if left undisturbed, but cultivated plants are generally pruned to waist height for ease of plucking. Also, the short plants bear more new shoots which provide new and tender leaves and increase the quality of the tea.
Uses
- Dried and cured leaves widely used for a beverage, which has a stimulant effect due to caffeine.[2]
- Tea extract is used as a flavor in alcoholic beverages, frozen dairy desserts, candy, baked goods, gelatins, and puddings (Leung, 1980). Air-dry tea seed yields a clear golden-yellow oil resembling sasanqua oil, but the seed cake, containing saponin, is not suitable for fodder.[2]
Common name
- English - Tea
- Kannada - ತೇಯಕು
- Hindi - चाय
