The cup that cheers will now cheer Bacchus lovers too as wine has been developed from tea in Assam by a team of five Tocklai Tea Research Institute scientists who unveiled their product here for public.
The scientists from the department of Mycology and Micro-Biology of the pioneer tea research institute developed three varieties of tea wine - CTC wine, Orthodox wine and Green tea wine, said Tocklai Tea Research Institute Director Dr Anup Kumar Baruah at the launch yesterday.
Tea wine from the three varieties of tea so far is in the pipeline to go commercial after it gets commercialisation mode, Baruah said.
Dr Prasanta Dutta, the scientist who led the team, said work was in process since the last part of 2015 till a week ago and it was officially launched for the public yesterday during Tocklai Tea Research Association (TRA) annual general meeting.
He said the process for commercialisation is in the pipeline as there were several steps to go through for commercial sale and it is a residue-free wine prepared from organic tea with totally pesticide free green tea which will benefit human health functioning.
Tea wine is a new approach of Tocklai Tea Research Institute to set up an initiation in the field of diversified product of Assam tea, he said, adding, fermentation of different type of tea with a symbolic culture of beneficial microbes in association with different stimulating organic agents that yields tea wine which can be consumed for its refreshing and beneficial properties on human health.
Different groups of bio chemicals contained in tea such as Flavonoids, Tannins, Catechins, Epicatechins, caffeine, Epigallocatechin, Gallate (EPCG) along with bio-chemicals present in the added organic agents such as Resveratrol, Procyanidins, Carbohydrates, etc, work as a great benefit to human health, he claimed.
Explaining the benefits of drinking tea wine, Dutta claimed Polyphenols presents in tea wine help to prevent cardiovascular diseases, controls sugar, fights off cold, prevents dementia and some cancers.
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