Scented tea, also known as fragrant tea, mainly comprises green tea as the tea base and the dried and processed flowers of various plants. It is a unique reprocessed tea in China. There are many types of scented tea, including jasmine, lily, osmanthus, rose and honeysuckle. The scenting process greatly influences the quality of the scented tea. Humidifying continuous scenting processes, frying flower processes and innovative drying methods have been developed to resolve the issues of cumbersome, time-consuming and low utilisation rates of flowers in the process of making scented tea. The main chemical components of scented tea are polyphenols as well as exogenous plant glycosides, flavonoids, lactones, coumarins, quercetin, steroids, terpenoids and other compounds. Scented tea plays an active role in the prevention and treatment of various diseases and has as anti-oxidant, anti-cancer, hypoglycaemic, hypolipidemic, immunomodulatory and neuromodulatory effects. This chapter mainly reviews and summarises the types of scented teas and their related health functions.
Part of the book: Recent Advances in the Health Benefits of Tea