Magnetic Field Extraction Techniques in Preparing High-Quality Tea Infusions

Abstract

Tea is one of the most popular drinks in the world, commonly consumed by consumers from all age groups mainly due to its refreshing taste, attractive aroma, and potentially beneficial impact on health. The composition of a tea drink depends on numerous factors, such as time and brewing temperature, degree of crumbling of tea leaves, and degree of mixing. Diffusion of the polyphenolic compounds, minerals, caffeine or theanine typical of tea infusions have been the subject of studies conducted by numerous authors. Promoting the extraction of amino acids from tea leaves when preparing infusions through the induction of a magnetic field constitutes not only another step towards the optimisation of the extraction process, but is also one of the methods to improve the nutritional value of tea infusions. The purpose of this work was to verify a hypothesis concerning the improvement of the extraction of amino acids from dried tea during the preparation of infusions by applying a permanent or variable magnetic field induced under laboratory conditions. A variable magnetic field applied as a factor assisting extraction resulted in an increased concentration in the total number of amino acids in green and black tea infusions. A statistically significant improvement in the level of free amino acids was observed after application of extraction assisted by a variable magnetic field with induction at 100 mT and a frequency of 50 Hz. Extraction using a variable magnetic field for tea infusions may constitute a good solution to assist traditional water extraction methods for research purposes.

Keywords

• teas
• amino acids
• extraction
• magnetic field