Health benefits of tea: Research MoU signed to identify possible use of tea in ayurveda

Guwahati: What are the health benefits of tea?

To find the answer, the All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) Andrew Yule Group, a government enterprise signed a MoU on Thursday to undertake research in the tea estates and discover its health benefits of tea including exploring possibilities for possible applications in the Ayurvedic treatments.

As per the agreement, the expert team from AIIA tea will collect samples from various tea estates of AYCL for necessary lab research. Further to this, the AIIA will perform detailed analysis of various teas as provided by AYCL from the perspectives of Ayurveda and its benefits on human health. AIIA to carry out experiments on Tea for its health and Ayurvedic importance and usage in Ayurvedic medicines and cosmetics.

The Andrew Yule Company Limited (AYCL) has seven tea estates in Assam's Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Golaghat districts. With over 800 big tea gardens and over one lakh small gardens, Assam produces the highest volume of tea in the world.

The MoU was signed in New Delhi in the presence of Union Minister of Shipping, Ports and AYUSH, Sarbananda Sonowal, who hails from Assam. “Traditionally, tea has many proven health benefits which must be studied scientifically. This agreement signed today is an attempt to scientifically catalogue the various health benefits of tea as well as explore possibilities of tea’s application in providing Ayurvedic medicine. The government has been empowering the traditional knowledge of medicine like Ayurveda with scientific validation, through modern research and development approaches. This has enabled our rich heritage of Ayurveda and other traditional forms of medicine to provide solutions for a wider range of ailments, and allowing people to enrich their quality of lives," Sonowal said, while addressing the function.

Tea has been consumed by the indigenous population of Assam, both for its taste as well as healing touch. For long, this rich bounty of nature in Assam has remained merely as a cash crop. Decades have gone by but no sincere attempt was ever made to realise the rich herbal and healing power of tea. As India reinvents itself, tea, one of the mainstays of Assam, is set to unlock its potential as a natural ingredient towards Ayurvedic formulations which are aimed at enriching the quality of lives of the people,” he said.

Both AIIA and AYCL agreed to work on examining the health benefits of tea and its importance for humans from an Ayurvedic perspective. AIIA may provide technical recommendations to change compositions and processes to enhance health benefits and utility.

Sonowal further said the collaboration could also open up possibilities of a booming tourism industry in Assam with the healing touch of Ayurveda and Yoga in the pristine lap of tea estates.