herbal tea
Herbal teas are called tea like fruit teas , but according to food law they can only be declared as tea-like products . This refers to aromatic infusion beverages made from fresh or dried parts of plants, e.g. B. leaves as peppermint leaves , fruit parts such as fennel seeds , or flowers , like lime blossom or chamomile flowers are produced and poured boiling water.
definition
There are two product groups:
- Herbal teas that are consumed as part of the diet,
- Medicinal teas that fall under the Medicines Act and must have appropriate labeling on the packaging as well as effects and contraindications.
Most medicinal teas are so-called over-the - counter medicines and can be sold through food retailers, a few are only available from pharmacies . The sale of medicinal teas in retail (e.g. grocery stores and drug stores) in Germany requires proof of expertise for over-the-counter medicines. Many herbs are used both as food for enjoyment purposes and as medicines for healing purposes.
Each plant that is processed into herbal tea has different ingredients. These include essential oils, which determine the taste and smell of the respective plant, as well as vitamins, minerals, trace elements and polyphenols . With the exception of mate tea , and kola nut - and guarana -containing mixtures Herbal teas are caffeine free.
Herbal teas are divided into monodrugs (from the Greek word mono for alone ), such as chamomile or peppermint, and mixtures of different herbs. The teas can not only come from different plants, but also from different parts of the plant. Experts differentiate between herb, leaf, root, bark, flower, fruit, seed or wood drugs.
Which parts of the plant are used depends on where the aromatic ingredients are located. Herbal teas are also called tea drugs . The term drug comes from the Dutch droog , which means dry , and originally referred to simply dried parts of plants.
Cultivation
The plants for herbal teas are now mostly grown on small areas. The main growing areas are mainly in Southern and Eastern Europe, South America, China and Egypt, and for some years now increasingly in Germany. Rooibos or rooibos tea comes from South Africa, mate tea from South America. Some varieties such as lime blossom, elderflower or nettle are mainly obtained from wild collections. As natural products, herbal teas depend on the climate, soil and weather. The quality of the plants - even if they come from the same growing area - can therefore vary from one season to the next. The cultivated, controlled cultivation guarantees a high level of consistent quality. The respective parts of the plant are harvested or collected and dried in the cultivation country.
Plants from conventional and controlled organic cultivation are processed into herbal teas. Before they are further processed in Germany, they go through strict quality controls. Only then are the goods cut and mixed according to the recipe. In 2018, 40,184 tons of herbal tea were sold in Germany; the proportion of certified organic herbal teas was 10.4 percent.
Offer forms
Herbal teas are available in different forms: as loose goods (mostly coarse cut), as infusion bags and as instant products (instantly soluble product). The coarse cut is also called concis from the Latin concissum , which means cut up . The cutting sizes vary from 4 to 15 mm. The grain size of the fine cut, which is mainly used for tea bags, is about a tenth of that.
Spices or aromas are added to flavored herbal teas in order to refine or change their taste. The flavor is indicated on the packaging and the individual ingredients are listed in the list of ingredients.
Storage and preparation
Herbal and fruit teas should be stored in a cool, dry place. The teas are best placed in dark, airtight containers. The herbal and fruit tea stocks should also not be kept in the immediate vicinity of other strongly smelling herbs and spices, as these can affect the aroma of the teas. It is advisable to use opened packs as quickly as possible.
Just like fruit and vegetables, tea herbs lose vital substances and active ingredients even when properly dried and stored and are therefore most effective when fresh. Therefore, if you harvest them for private use in your own garden or collect them wildly in the vicinity, it makes the most sense to freshly prepare the herbs immediately. While herbs intended for drying are usually harvested at the time they have the strongest aroma - often before or during flowering - herbs for fresh use are usually harvested while the herb is green, even after flowering or when it just begins to sprout. Due to the loss of water during drying, herbs collapse so much that the same amount of plants appears about three times as many when fresh herbs are used for tea. Tea made from fresh herbs generally does not take as long to steep as that made from dried herbs. Roots usually have to grow a little longer.
A heaped teaspoon or one teabag per cup is sufficient as a dosage for dried herbs. In general, the more tea, the more intense the taste. The quality of the water is just as crucial as the quality of the herbal and fruit tea. Fresh water with as little lime as possible is boiled and poured over the herbal tea. The brewing time should usually be eight, but no more than ten minutes. The brewing time is a little shorter for bagged goods . The manufacturers indicate the correct preparation for the individual product on the packaging.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Alfred Täufel, Waldemar Ternes, Liselotte Tunger, Martin Zobel (eds.): Food Lexicon A – K, study edition. 1993 (updated), 1998 (unchanged reprint), 3rd edition, Behrs, Hamburg
- ↑ Ordinance on pharmacy-only and over-the-counter drugs dated November 24, 1988 as amended
- ↑ Law on the trade in medicinal products (Medicines Act - AMG) Section 50 Retail of over-the-counter medicinal products
- ↑ O. Pokorny, UH Engelhardt (2002): Antioxidative potential and total phenol content of herbal and fruit teas. Food Chemistry 56, pp. 77-78
- ↑ a b Max Wichtl (Ed.): Tea drugs and phytopharmaceuticals: A manual for practice on a scientific basis. 5th edition, Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellschaft, Stuttgart 2009
- ↑ a b BMELV: New version of the guidelines for tea, tea-like products, their extracts and preparations from January 26, 1999 PDF
- ↑ Thorsten Dresler, Susanne Nowitzki-Grimm, Peter Grimm a. a .: Dr. Oetker Food Lexicon. 4th ed., Dr. August Oetker Nahrungsmittel KG, 2004
- ↑ Bernd Hoppe : Study on the status of the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants in Germany (2003) and assessment of the development trends in the following years. 2005 ( PDF )
- ↑ Evaluation and information service for nutrition, agriculture and forestry: coffee, tea, cocoa, herbal tea . Bonn 2000
- ↑ Wirtschaftsvereinigung herbal and fruit tea e. V., 2018: Market Report 2018 .
- ↑ Angela Bechthold (2005): Herbal and fruit tea - trendy drink with healing properties? Nutrition teaching and practice, nutrition review, B46 – B48 ( PDF )
- ↑ Steffen Guido Fleischhauer: Encyclopedia of the edible wild plants. AT Verlag, Aarau / Munich 2004, ISBN 3-85502-889-3 , p. 10 ff.