Chemical Composition, Bioactivity and Safety Aspects of Kuding Tea—From Beverage to Herbal Extract
Institute of Human Nutrition and Food Science, University of Kiel, Hermann-Rodewald-Strasse 6, 24118 Kiel, Germany
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Nutrients 2020, 12(9), 2796; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12092796
Received: 11 August 2020
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Revised: 9 September 2020
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Accepted: 10 September 2020
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Published: 12 September 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary (Poly)Phenols and Health)
Kuding tea (KT) is a bitter-tasting herbal tea that has been commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The large-leaved Ku-Ding-Cha (Aquifoliaceae) is composed of its representative species Ilex latifolia Thunb and Ilex kudingcha C.J. Tseng. Because of its potential lipid-lowering, body weight-reducing and blood-glucose-lowering properties, KT has increasingly been recognised for its importance over the past several decades. KT is no longer used only as a beverage, and various extraction methods have been applied to obtain aqueous and ethanolic KT extracts (KTE) or their fractions, which could potentially be used as dietary supplements. The major bioactive components of KT are triterpene saponins and polyphenols, but the composition of KT differs substantially between and among the different KT species. This in turn might affect the physiological effects of KT. KT exhibits antiobesity properties, possibly partly by affecting the intestinal microbiota. In addition, KT may mediate putative antioxidative, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities. However, there is evidence that high KTE supplementation can adversely affect liver metabolism. The physiological relevance of KT in humans remains rather unclear since the potential health benefits of KT and its constituents reviewed here are mainly derived on the basis of in vitro and animal studies.
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Keywords:
kuding tea; kudingcha; Ilex; herbal drug; extract; bioactivity; safety
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MDPI and ACS Style
Wüpper, S.; Lüersen, K.; Rimbach, G. Chemical Composition, Bioactivity and Safety Aspects of Kuding Tea—From Beverage to Herbal Extract. Nutrients 2020, 12, 2796. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12092796
AMA Style
Wüpper S, Lüersen K, Rimbach G. Chemical Composition, Bioactivity and Safety Aspects of Kuding Tea—From Beverage to Herbal Extract. Nutrients. 2020; 12(9):2796. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12092796
Chicago/Turabian StyleWüpper, Svenja, Kai Lüersen, and Gerald Rimbach. 2020. "Chemical Composition, Bioactivity and Safety Aspects of Kuding Tea—From Beverage to Herbal Extract" Nutrients 12, no. 9: 2796. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12092796
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