A Brief Review on Green Tea

Abstract

Green Tea, which is produced from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant and belongs to the family Theaceae, is one of the most popular beverages worldwide. In This paper, the phytochemistry, Pharmacology, and toxicology of green tea are reviewed systematically and comprehensively. Key findings Green Tea has been demonstrated to be good for human health. Nowadays, multiple pharmacologically active components have been isolated and identified from green tea, including tea polyphenols, alkaloids, amino acids, polysaccharides, and volatile components. Recent studies have demonstrated that green tea shows versatile pharmacological activities, such as antioxidant, anticancer, hypoglycemic, antibacterial, antiviral and neuroprotective. Studies on the toxic effects of green tea extract and its main ingredients have also raised concerns including hepatotoxicity and DNA damage. Additionally, Green tea polyphenols induce autophagy, thereby revitalizing the overall health of the organism consuming it. Green tea was able to activate autophagy in HL-60 Xenographs by increasing the activity of P13 kinase and BECLIN-1. This manuscript describes the reported anti-photoaging, stress resistance, and neuroprotective and autophagy properties of one of the most widely known functional foods-green tea.