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White Teas
White tea is tea made from new growth buds and young leaves of the plant Camellia sinensis. The leaves are steamed or fried to inactivate polyphenol oxidation, and then dried. White tea therefore retains the high concentrations of catechins which are present in fresh tea leaves. The buds may also be shielded from sunlight during growth to reduce formation of chlorophyll. White tea is a speciality of the Chinese province Fujian.
Green tea is made from more mature tea leaves than white tea, and may be withered prior to steaming or firing. Although green tea is also rich in catechins, it may have different catechin profiles than white tea. For white tea, the little buds that form on the plant are covered with silver hairs that give the young leaves a white appearance. The leaves come from a number of varieties of tea cultivars, the most popular are Da Bai (Large White), Xiao Bai (Small White), Narcissus and Chaicha bushes. According to the different standards of picking and selecting, White teas can be classified into a number of grades, further described in the varieties section.
White tea is steamed and dried almost immediately after harvesting (sometimes before even leaving the fields). This method of minimal processing may account for white tea's higher than normal medical benefits. Roderick H. Dashwood, an Oregon State University biochemist, has stated that the polyphenols, called catechins, are altered through subsequent processing to other teas (green, oolong, and finally black).[citation needed]Kit Chow notes in All The Tea In China that in hard times, very poor Chinese people would serve guests boiled water if they could not afford tea. Host and guest would refer to the water as "white tea" and act as if the tradition of serving guests tea had been carried out as usual. (This usage is related to plain boiled water being called "white boiled water" in Chinese). |
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