Development of New Tea Products

    TRI was the pioneer to conduct researches in the processing technology of Ready-To-Drink tea in China. The developed processing techniques of canned tea beverage and fresh tea juice satisfactorily solved problems frequently occurred during preparation, such as the formation of turbidity and precipitation, color degradation and provided innovative approaches to preserve aromas. A total of more than 20 Ready-To-Drink tea products such as Tea-Cola, Ready-To-Drink canned or bottled Oolong, black and green teas were developed. The technologies were transferred to enterprises in Shandong, Henan, Zhejiang and Yunnan provinces. The research achievements were awarded the third-grade Prize by the Ministry of Agriculture and the second-grade Prize for the Advancement of Science and Technology by the Zhejiang Provincial Government.

    The new products, high fragrant and cold water-soluble instant teas and concentrated tea juice were recently developed in TRI by employing new techniques of low temperature extraction and combining adoption of membrane and enzyme. The processing of raw materials (green tea) was accordingly modified and improved to meet the special requirements for production of these products. The new technology well solved the problems of low aroma and weak solubility found in most instant teas. Pilot and demonstration application in several enterprises of Zhejiang province displayed prominent economic benefits. The research achievements received the first-grade Prize from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the second-grade Prize for the Advancement of Science and Technology from Zhejiang Provincial Government.

    TRI developed new tea products, such as granulated green tea, ultra-fine green tea powder (<300 mesh), decaffeinated tea (caffeine content <1%), GABA-Tea (γ-amino butyric acid content >300 mg/100g) and special tea with healthy functions on lowering blood glucose.