Department of Economic Plants and Biotechnology, Yunnan Key Laboratory for Wild Plant Resources, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China; Southeast Asia Biodiversity Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yezin, Nay Pyi Taw 05282, Myanmar.
Department of Economic Plants and Biotechnology, Yunnan Key Laboratory for Wild Plant Resources, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China; College of Forestry, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2018 Aug 10;222:217-228. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2018.04.026. Epub 2018 May 3.
Herbal teas have long been consumed by Chinese people for preventive and/or therapeutic healthcare. Although herbal teas are widely consumed by many cultural groups in different regions of China, no thorough review has been undertaken to assess the diversity of the country's herbal tea usage. This literature review, complemented by a quantitative survey in an important tea market in Kunming, begins to fill this knowledge gap.
The study aims to summarize the current knowledge of plant species used as herbal teas by different cultural groups in different regions of China, with a focus on the teas' perceived traditional healthcare functions, related phytochemical/pharmaceutical research, and safety issues.
The study involved a comprehensive literature review and a market survey. The literature review was based on published ethnobotanical studies of herbal teas in China. We searched the Web of Science™, ELSEVIER, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and the China Science and Technology Journal Database to locate relevant studies (including journal articles, Masters/PhD dissertations and books) that were published before March 2017. A species list was compiled based on the review and supplemented with information retrieved from the Scifinder database (https://scifinder.cas.org) and the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2010). A Use Value Index was employed for ranking the most cited species. Based on the 29 most cited species, we discussed the current research status in relation to healthcare benefits and safety concerns of herbal teas in China. To better understand the current status of the herbal tea market in China, we also surveyed 136 tea vendors at the Xiongda Tea Market in Kunming. Information gathered from the survey included the species sold, the sale prices and the form of the herbal tea product.
The literature identified 759 plant species used as herbal tea in China and the market survey identified an additional 23 species. Most of the species used were from the Leguminosae, Compositae and Lamiaceae families. Twenty two provinces and fourteen ethnic minority groups have records on the consumption of herbal teas. Southern China uses up to 82% of the total species, and 211 out of 759 species are used by minority groups. Thirty categories of traditional healthcare functions are linked with herbal teas, with clearing away heat, relieving toxicity and suppressing cough being the most important functions. There is phytochemical/pharmaceutical evidence to support the claimed healthcare benefits of some Chinese herbal teas. Although Chinese herbal teas are generally safe to consume, overdoses of some herbal teas and some unapproved mixtures of species may cause health risks. Based on our market survey, the prices of most herbal teas range between 100 and 200 RMB (US$15-30) per kg.
A rich array of herbal tea species with various traditional healthcare functions have long been used in China, and as such there is a huge market potential for Chinese herbal teas. More pharmaceutical/phytochemical research is needed to assess a wide range of perceived healthcare benefits of Chinese herbal teas. Our research highlights the need to study herbal teas through an ethnopharmacological perspective and by employing a holistic approach, which requires greater consideration of traditional knowledge in the pharmacological research design. Product safety and sustainability issues should also be considered, so the traditional applications of herbal teas can be transformed to efficient health boosting functional products.
草药茶长期以来一直被中国人用于预防和/或治疗保健。尽管草药茶在中国不同地区的许多文化群体中被广泛饮用，但尚未进行全面审查以评估该国草药茶使用的多样性。本文献综述通过在昆明重要茶叶市场进行的定量调查，开始填补这一知识空白。
本研究旨在总结不同文化群体在中国不同地区使用的植物种类作为草药茶的当前知识，重点是茶的传统保健功能、相关的植物化学/药物研究和安全问题。
该研究涉及全面的文献综述和市场调查。文献综述基于中国草药茶的已发表民族植物学研究。我们在 Web of Science™、ELSEVIER、中国国家知识基础设施（CNKI）和中国科技期刊数据库中搜索了截至 2017 年 3 月发表的相关研究（包括期刊文章、硕士/博士论文和书籍）。根据综述编制了一个物种清单，并通过 Scifinder 数据库（https://scifinder.cas.org）和《中国药典》（2010 年）检索的信息进行了补充。使用使用价值指数对最常被引用的物种进行排名。基于 29 种最常被引用的物种，我们讨论了与中国草药茶的保健益处和安全问题相关的当前研究状况。为了更好地了解中国草药茶市场的现状，我们还对昆明雄达茶叶市场的 136 家茶叶供应商进行了调查。调查中收集的信息包括销售的物种、销售价格和草药茶产品的形式。
文献确定了 759 种在中国用作草药茶的植物物种，市场调查确定了另外 23 种。使用的大多数物种来自豆科、菊科和唇形科。22 个省和 14 个少数民族群体有饮用草药茶的记录。中国南方使用的物种占总数的 82%，759 种物种中有 211 种被少数民族使用。与草药茶相关的传统保健功能有 30 类，清热、解毒和止咳是最重要的功能。有植物化学/药物学证据支持一些中草药茶的声称的保健益处。虽然中国草药茶一般安全可食用，但一些草药茶的过量使用和一些未经批准的物种混合可能会导致健康风险。根据我们的市场调查，大多数草药茶的价格在每公斤 100-200 元人民币（15-30 美元）之间。
中国长期以来一直使用具有各种传统保健功能的丰富的草药茶种类，因此中国草药茶具有巨大的市场潜力。需要进行更多的药物/植物化学研究来评估广泛的中国草药茶的感知保健益处。我们的研究强调需要从民族药理学角度并采用整体方法研究草药茶，这需要在药物研究设计中更多地考虑传统知识。还应考虑产品安全和可持续性问题，以便将草药茶的传统应用转化为高效的健康促进功能性产品。
