L-theanine has a tea flavor, which can inhibit the excitatory effect caused by caffeine, lower blood pressure, relieve tension, improve brain function, etc. Theanine has a strong diuretic and dilated blood vessels, and theanine is necessary for the human body. But the human body can not be synthesized, it depends on the outside world.

Researchers at Harvard University found in an experiment that the immune effect of drinking tea is that black tea, green tea and oolong tea contain L-theanine, which can improve the working function of human immune cells, thereby enhancing the body's resistance to infectious diseases. Ability.

Researchers discovered a few years ago that the first line of defense against viral, pathogenic, fungal, and parasitic infections in the immune system is the "gamma-delta T-cell" in the human body. Recent research has shown that this cell is accepting After stimulation with L-theanine, it will divide at a rate of more than 10 times and secrete a compound that can resist disease, which greatly enhances the body's immunity. The researchers conducted experiments on two groups of volunteers. In the four weeks, the two groups of subjects were given 5 small cups of tea and 5 small cups of coffee a day. The results showed that the "gamma-delta T cells" of the tea drinkers were secreted. More anti-disease compounds, but coffee drinkers did not. Bukowski, a scientist at Harvard Medical School, said that drinking tea can increase the body's immunity, so that infection with some germs can not occur, but not all bacteria.

According to the Journal of the American Academy of Sciences, Dr. Bukovsky, an American scientist at Harvard Medical School, found that drinking tea can increase the amount of interferon secretion in human blood cells by a factor of five. Interferon is the "chemical line of defense" for the body to fight infection. The reason is that there is a substance called "theanine" in tea, which is decomposed into ethylamine in the human liver, and ethylamine can be mobilized into human blood of "gamma-delta T-shaped cells". Immune cells promote the secretion of interferon, which can greatly enhance the ability to resist external aggression. According to the results of this study, drinking tea can increase the amount of interferon secretion in blood immune cells by 5 times. Therefore, it can be considered that in the current period of fighting against SARS, drinking more theanine-containing beverage is definitely more beneficial to resisting the virus.

The role of amino acids enhances the taste of tea soup. For example, the most abundant theanine has the fresh taste of MSG. Certain other types of amino acids also have varying degrees of freshness.

The Science Times reported that a cup of ordinary tea may be a powerful weapon for the body to fight infectious diseases. This is reported by American researchers in the newly published Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. They found that the chemicals in tea can bring the body to the human body. The ability to fight disease is increased by 5 times.

Jack. F. Bukowski is a researcher at Brigham Women's Hospital in Boston, USA, and Harvard Medical School. He and his co-authors isolated a chemical called L-theanine from common tea. And tested on a group of volunteers, the results proved that this chemical is effective against bacteria. The presence of theanine is found in common teas such as black tea, green tea and oolong tea. He said that L-theanine is broken down into ethylamine in the liver, and this molecule stimulates the immune response of the immune cells in the blood, γ-δ T cells. Interferon is an antiviral protein produced by cells infected by viruses. It is the main chemical substance for humans to deal with infectious diseases. T cells can promote the secretion of interferon. Bukowski said: "We know from other people's research that these γ-δ T cells in the blood are the first line of defense against a variety of bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic infections, and they even have some anti-tumor active."

To further confirm their findings, the researchers selected 21 volunteers, 11 of whom drank 5 cups of tea a day and 10 of them coffee. The researchers took their blood samples before the volunteers took the test. Four weeks later, the researchers again took samples of the subjects' blood and exposed them to E-coli bacteria. The results showed that the amount of interferon secreted by the immune cells of the blood sample after drinking tea was 5 times that of the tea before drinking, and the blood sample of the coffee drinker did not change before and after the test. Bukowski said that in the future, L-theanine may be isolated and purified from tea, and they are made into drugs to improve the body's ability to cope with infectious diseases.

Tea contains a variety of active ingredients, among which three major tea extracts have been recognized, namely tea polyphenols (catechins), tea polysaccharides and theanine. Among them, theanine, known as “natural sedative”, has become one of the most popular natural health products in the international market in recent years.

According to Japanese research, theanine can significantly promote the release of dopamine from the central nervous system of the brain and increase the physiological activity of dopamine, thereby helping to relax the body and relieve fatigue.

Multiple functions are gradually being discovered

At present, theanine has been used to treat depression, the most common mental illness in the world. It is estimated that at least 100 million people worldwide suffer from varying degrees of depression, with a prevalence of 1.5%.

At present, the treatment of depression mainly uses western medicine antidepressants, such as sertraline and paroxetine. However, although these drugs can effectively control the symptoms of depression, the side effects such as lethargy, blurred vision and high blood pressure are very obvious. Especially in large doses, it will cause great harm to patients. The drugs made with theanine can avoid these side effects. The health care products manufacturers in the United States, Japan and other countries have developed and marketed more than the main tea theanine supplemented with valerian root extract and hypericin. The natural anti-depressant capsule of sedative has remarkable curative effect and no side effects have been observed for long-term use.

With the advancement of research, other functions of theanine have been gradually explored, such as effective improvement of children with ADHD, and have obvious therapeutic effects on menopausal syndrome.

Japan: "Bole" of theanine

Japan is the earliest country to develop and utilize theanine. As early as 1949, the already existing theanine product was introduced in Japan, and only the theanine was used to improve the taste of the beverage. Since the 1990s, research and development work on theanine has accelerated, and the application of theanine in health care products and pharmaceuticals has been promoted.

In 1998, at the International Conference on New Raw Materials for Health Foods held in Germany, theanine was rated as “the most valuable food new material”, and the samples of theanine preparations brought by Japanese scholars were also rated as food research new products by the conference. Grand prize. Since then, theanine has begun to “extend in the international market”, entered the European market and competed fiercely with the long-established hypericin. Since the effect of theanine is superior to that of hypericin and the side effects are smaller, there are dozens of brands of health foods in Europe that use the imported theanine raw material of Japan.

Japan Sun Chemical Co., Ltd. is the first manufacturer to develop the use of theanine in Japan. It is also the largest producer of theanine in Japan and the world, and its theanine formulation is the leader in the US market. It is understood that at least dozens of manufacturers in Japan are producing a number of brands of theanine health foods, such as Kirin’s “Si Peter”, Bilbao’s “Leifanbi”, and DHL’s “relaxation”. The "element" is a well-known theanine health care product on the Japanese market. Not long ago, Ito Park and the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Neuroscience jointly developed a high-purity theanine capsule specially designed for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease, further expanding the application range of theanine.

It is estimated that the total sales of the theanine terminal products in the Japanese market in 2005 was 48 billion to 56 billion yen, and this figure is expected to reach 70 billion to 80 billion yen in 2006.

US: Theanine products are varied

Following Europe, the United States officially approved the entry of theanine into the country's market in 2000 and classified it as a GRAS-grade (ie known as safe) food additive. Although the production of theanine product is not as long as that of Japan in the United States, the development momentum is very alarming.

According to incomplete statistics, there are at least 50 to 60 different brands of theanine products in the US market, the most common of which are oral capsules and oral liquids. Because the United States has a higher level of technology, the variety of theanine products has shown a diversified situation in the United States. For example, a US company has introduced a theanine aerosol that is tailor-made for children. It has the effect of assisting in the treatment of children with ADHD and improving learning/memory; a food company in the United States recently developed a dark chocolate product containing theanine; BN Company of the United States has introduced a product that can be directly added to milk and juice by consumers. Or "bulk theanine powder" in other beverages, and the like. In addition, new products such as “natural sleeping pills” TARO and ZEN (allergic treats) were launched in 2006. These products are generally sold in quantities of between ten and fifty dollars per bottle and are very popular in the US market. .

It is estimated that (theanine is not included in the statistics because the theanine is a "dietary supplement" in the United States, and the annual sales of the theanine product in the US market has reached 200 million to 300 million US dollars. The total market size is expected to reach more than 300 million to 400 million US dollars.

China: Develop domestic market according to local conditions

The production of theanine in China began in the late 1990s, which was related to the situation in which the demand for theanine in the international market increased significantly.

At present, at least one or two companies (mostly small and medium-sized companies) in the country are producing theanine, and the products are mainly for export, and the domestic sales are extremely small. Mr. Zheng Guobin, the general manager of Changzhou Jinluo Pharmaceutical Factory, applied for the invention patent of theanine chemical preparation (patent No. ZL200410041298.7) as early as June 2004, which created a possibility for large-scale production of L-theanine and greatly reduced it. The cost of theanine makes the theanine a product for everyone.

Note: L-theanine is a new product in China. It is not added in the food additive catalog. It cannot be added to the food temporarily.