EGCG of green tea increases shelf life of blood platelets
Posted on 16. Sep, 2009 by Turbo in Health
Green tea is a storehouse of several goodies ya’ll know. This time too there is an adding to the goodies of green tea. According to Japanese scientists, green tea
might be having a component that actually prolongs shelf life of blood.
According to a study published in ‘Cell Transplantation,’ green tea’s anti-oxidant, epigallocatechin 3-gallate, otherwise popular as EGCG may actually increase the shelf life of blood platelets.
The shelf life of platelets otherwise is for about 3-5 days depending on the atmospheric conditions but when green tea or in particular when the epigallocatechin 3-gallate (EGCG) was added to the platelet concentrates, the parameters including cell aggregation and coagulation were still retained after six days which is otherwise not.
The researchers could not explain the phenomenon of how green tea’s EGCG could increase the shelf life of platelets, but they have linked the surface binding ability properties of EGCG that is protecting surface proteins and lipids from getting oxidized and preventing apoptosis or cell death. The finding could well prove as a useful method to preserve blood platelets for long.
Ascorbic acid and sucrose bolster the green tea effects
Posted on 10. Sep, 2009 by Turbo in Health
Ascorbic acid (aka vitamin C) and sucrose (common sugar) when added to green tea (which maybe the usual way that green lemon tea is taken) can actually aid in greater absorption of catechins from the tea.
According to researchers from Purdue University, adding ascorbic acid and sucrose (common sugar) to tea increase absorption of catechins, the polyphenols that are rich in tea, especially the green tea.
The catechins are believed as antioxidants that help fight diseases including stroke, diabetes and cancer.
The researchers demonstrated through a digestive model that by adding the two constituents (ascorbic acid and sucrose) catechins absorbed in the blood is three times higher in a person than one who has taken the green tea without adding the ascorbic acid and sucrose.
These findings were elucidated in the journal of Food Research International; the online version.
