Organic Pomegranate Wildberry Tea

Description

A luscious medley of berries: pomegranate, blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry with a satisfying organic loose leaf black tea base. Tart flavors of hibiscus and smooth notes of red rooibos make this a wonderfully complex tea. Savor every sip!

Hibiscus and Your Health

Hibiscus is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is quite large, containing several hundred species that are native to warm-temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. Member species are often noted for their showy flowers and are commonly known simply as hibiscus, or less widely known as rosemallow. The genus includes both annual and perennial herbaceous plants, as well as woody shrubs and small trees. The generic name is derived from the Greek word ἱβίσκος (hibískos), which was the name Pedanius Dioscorides (ca. 40–90) gave to Althaea officinalis.

Hibiscus tea is a natural source of vitamin C. It delivers a variety of beneficial organic acids, which include tartaric, citric and maleic acids. It also has the active flavonoids cyanidin and delphinidin, which gives the tea its red color. Every 100 g of hibiscus contains approximately 49 calories — 0.1 g of fat, 12.3 g of carbohydrates, 14 mg of vitamin C, 57 mg of iron and 1.7 mg of calcium. It is also rich in beta-carotene, about 300 mg per cup and 57 mg of iron.

Rooibos and Your Health

Rooibos (Anglicized pronunciation: pron.: /ˈrɔɪbɒs/ ROY-bos; Afrikaans pronunciation: [rɔːibɔs], “red bush”; scientific name Aspalathus linearis) is a broom-like member of the legume family of plants growing in South Africa’s fynbos.

The generic name comes from the plant Calicotome villosa, aspalathos in Greek. This plant has very similar growth and flowers to the redbush. The specific name linearis comes from the plant’s linear growing structure and needle-like leaves.

Rooibos is becoming more popular in Western countries, particularly among health-conscious consumers, due to its high level of antioxidants such as aspalathin and nothofagin, its lack of caffeine, and its low tannin levels compared to fully oxidized black tea or unoxidized green tea leaves. Rooibos also contains a number of phenolic compounds, including flavanols, flavones, flavanones, and dihydrochalcones.

Rooibos is purported to assist with nervous tension, allergies and digestive problems. Rooibos tea has been shown to inhibit in vitro activity of xanthine oxidase, yet an in vivo study has not been conducted. Xanthine oxidase (XO) plays a role in conversion of purine to uric acid in humans and reducing the activity of XO could limit uric acid production, which would aid in treatment of gout. In in vitro tests only, for the specific concentration tested, the infusion was shown to be less than half as effective as allopurinol, which is the drug typically prescribed to inhibit XO activity in treating gout.

Health benefits of black tea

Find out how black tea can improve your health here.