Health Benefits of Bioactive Compounds from the Genus Ilex, a Source of Traditional Caffeinated Beverages
Department of Food Science & Technology, School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors equally contributed to this paper.
Nutrients 2018, 10(11), 1682; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10111682
Received: 10 October 2018
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Revised: 30 October 2018
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Accepted: 1 November 2018
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Published: 5 November 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tea in Health and Disease)
Tea and coffee are caffeinated beverages commonly consumed around the world in daily life. Tea from Camellia sinensis is widely available and is a good source of caffeine and other bioactive compounds (e.g., polyphenols and carotenoids). Other tea-like beverages, such as those from the genus Ilex, the large-leaved Kudingcha (Ilex latifolia Thunb and Ilex kudingcha C.J. Tseng), Yerba Mate (Ilex paraguariensis A. St.-Hil), Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria), and Guayusa (Ilex guayusa Loes) are also traditional drinks, with lesser overall usage, but have attracted much recent attention and have been subjected to further study. This review summarizes the distribution, composition, and health benefits of caffeinated beverages from the genus Ilex. Plants of this genus mainly contain polyphenols and alkaloids, and show diverse health benefits, which, as well as supporting their further popularization as beverages, may also lead to potential applications in the pharmaceutical or nutraceutical industries.
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Keywords:
kudingcha; yerba mate; yaupon holly; guayusa; caffeine; polyphenols
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MDPI and ACS Style
Gan, R.-Y.; Zhang, D.; Wang, M.; Corke, H. Health Benefits of Bioactive Compounds from the Genus Ilex, a Source of Traditional Caffeinated Beverages. Nutrients 2018, 10, 1682. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10111682
AMA Style
Gan R-Y, Zhang D, Wang M, Corke H. Health Benefits of Bioactive Compounds from the Genus Ilex, a Source of Traditional Caffeinated Beverages. Nutrients. 2018; 10(11):1682. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10111682
Chicago/Turabian StyleGan, Ren-You, Dan Zhang, Min Wang, and Harold Corke. 2018. "Health Benefits of Bioactive Compounds from the Genus Ilex, a Source of Traditional Caffeinated Beverages" Nutrients 10, no. 11: 1682. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10111682
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