Therapeutic Potential of Green Tea Catechins - A Magical Herb

Abstract

There is an increasing interest in health benefits of foods and facing a large health problems due to rise in the occurrence of lifestyle disorders such as cancer, heart diseases, diabetes and obesity. Therefore, a lot of interest is generated on the dietary substances, especially, the natural ones that enhance the health of the population. Green tea is a 'non-fermented' tea, which is the most popularly consumed beverage in the world. It contains more catechins, than black tea or oolong tea. The health-beneficial effects of green tea are primarily attributed to its polyphenols; around 60-80% of polyphenols in green tea are catechins, which belong to flavan-3-ols, commonly known as catechins, particularly (-)- epigallocatechin-3-gallate. This review depicts the recent findings on the medicinal properties of green tea, focusing on the biol. properties of the green tea catechins such as antioxidative, anti-hypertensive, antiobesity, anticarcinogenic, cardioprotective, antibacterial activities and anti-inflammatory. Recommendations are also made to increase the bioavailability of the catechins through nanotechnol. delivery mechanisms.