The many benefits and ingredients that are good for health and how to cultivate green tea leaves

 Green tea is a type of tea that does not undergo a fermentation process but experiences a slightly longer drying and evaporation process. All teas contain catechins, but currently green tea is more popular because of its higher catechin content. So that green tea is better known as a type of tea that can prevent the growth of cancer. 

reen tea has many antioxidants, so green tea has many benefits for health and beauty. In addition, green tea also contains vitamins, saponins, theophyline, theobromine and others that can fight infection and help maintain optimal body temperature. Tea leaves contain three important components that affect the quality of the drink, namely caffeine, tannins and polyphenols. Caffeine provides a stimulant effect, tannins whose content is around 7-15% are strong astringents that give a septic or distinctive (sour) taste and can deposit proteins on the cell surface and polyphenols which have many health benefits.

The benefits of green tea for beauty are to slow down the aging process, prevent wrinkles, prevent cancer, protect the skin from the sun, treat acne, and others. You can try using green tea in 2 ways, namely by drinking it and by using green tea dregs which can be used as a mask with a mixture of honey. Usually, many teenagers often use this green tea to prevent acne and most of it is effective for getting rid of acne. Especially in today's era, many green tea is processed into organic masks which are easier for teenagers to use.   

Another benefit of green tea is that it can control body weight which is usually referred to as obesity. Obesity is a problem that is often experienced by many women. A lifestyle combined with the habit of eating junk food and a few drinks can cause obesity-related problems. To prevent this from happening to us, it is helpful to include green tea in our daily diet. As mentioned earlier, green tea contains natural antioxidants that can detoxify the body and suppress appetite, thereby preventing overeating. 

And various other benefits of green tea are :

·         Freshens breath

·         Reducing cholesterol

·         Makes skin healthier

·         Can nourish hair

·         Prevent skin cancer

·         Reduces stress and depression

·         Relieve asthma symptoms

The process of making green tea includes :  

• Withering Process  
The fresh tea leaves picked from the garden are spread and stirred to reduce the water content. Then, the leaves are withered by high pressure hot steam. This process will kill the enzyme activity which can inhibit the fermentation process. This step can reduce the water by 60-70%.
• Cooling process
Leaf Rolling Process. This process aims to break down cells and thus produce a septic taste.
• Drying Process
This process is carried out in 2 stages. The first is at a temperature of 110-135 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes and the second one is at a temperature of 70-90 degrees Celsius for 60-90 minutes.
• Sorting Process
At this stage, green tea is divided into several quality qualities, such as pekko (top leaves), jikeng (lower / old leaves), powder / kempring (crushed leaves), and bones. 

In cultivating green tea for home, we must pay attention to several factors, namely :
• Home climate  
Indeed, most tea gardens are in the highlands. This is because the tea tree really needs a lot of rainfall. However, we can still plant in the yard as long as the air temperature is good 14-25 degrees Celsius.
• Land Used
The tea factor used is very important to help tea growth. The land that you must use, namely: fertile soil, loose, can absorb water into the depths, smooth water circulation.

Home Care of Tea Plants :
• For new plants, please water every day
• After one week, do the watering 2-3 days
• If it's weeds that can interfere with your tea plants, do the weeds every 2 weeks so that plant growth is not disturbed.
• Also give additional organic fertilizer once a week on a regular basis, then do the watering so that the fertilizer soaks down.

Nama : Putri Ardianti Lestari
Kelas : X AKL 2