TEXT of article submitted to InternationalConference o O'cha(tea) Culture and Science(ICOS

EATING INFUSED TEA LEAVES IN SAHARAN AFRICA

^aKrishna, K.V.S., ^bRamaswamy, S. and ^cJain, N.K.

^aPlantation Crops Agri Agency, 2A-Parkland Apts, K.Bai St, T.Nagar, Chennai-600017, India. Tel: 91-44-28152079. E-mail: kvskrishna@rediffmail.com

^bMaha Bio-Plans, 27/28 Balakrishna Nagar, Gerugambakkam, Chennai-602101, India.

Tel: 91-44-23820843. Email: mbp_sr@yahoo.co.in

^cInternational Journal of Tea Science, A-298, Sarita Vihar, New Delhi-110044, India.

Tel: +91-1126949142, Fax (PP): +91-1126942222. Email: teascience@hotmail.com

SUMMARY

This paper deals with a case study of eating infused-tea-leaf by the people of Saharan Africa and highlights the need for complete utilization of black tea leaves, in the form of tea infusion and infused leaf. The analysis for food value has shown that the infused-tea-leaf posses major nutrients, which are beneficial for health. Processing changes required for making Big Bulk of tea meant for eatable infused-tea-leaf are suggested. An example of a tea estate marketing tea for infused-tea-leaf consumption and its comparison with another estate selling tea to London market confirms the economic and commercial potential for utilizing tea leaves as vegetables. In the context of an over supply of leaf tea as beverage, utilizing tea-leaf for eating has an important role in alleviating the depressed world tea prices. Role of the Industry and Research Institutes is pointed out, if this enhanced potential is to materialize.

Keywords

Infused-tea-leaf. Chemical analysis. Food value. Big-Bulk Processing & Marketing. Ndu Tea Estate. Cameroon.

Introduction

In the countries of Saharan Africa and those adjoining it, the local people have taken to the habit of eating infused-tea-leaf after drinking the brew. These nations have a severe shortage of fresh vegetables. Although tea-leaves have not replaced vegetable greens and leafy vegetables like spinach, they do serve as dried vegetable foods. In India most planters enjoy chewing green tea-leaves. Cases are known where tea-shoots fried with flour are served as snacks or are cooked in curries. But the practice is more of a novelty rather than adopted in wide practice.

Historically, tea-leaves were chewed by the Founder of Zen Buddhism Bodhirama to ward off sleep in the fifth year of his meditation. The minority communities in China are known to cook brick tea as soup to eat with yak butter. This is the only known case where spent tea-leaf is not discarded but is used as an item of food. This paper discusses the nutritional value of spent tea-leaf, changes required in processing tea to meet the requirements of the product for infused-tea-leaf-consumption, the impact on marketing policy and its potential as a commercial practice to increase the consumption of made tea to alleviate the problem of over supply of beverage leaf tea which has recently depressed the world tea prices.

Food value

Infused tealeaves have valuable nutrients and health food components. The chemical analysis of black tea-brew and infused-leaf by Ramaswamy (1999) is reproduced in Table1. Infused-tea-leaf that contains all the proteins, fiber, carotenes and lipids of the green tea-leaf, is a rich source of polyphenols, carbohydrates and caffeine, and contains a sizeable fraction of non-extracted amino acids and minerals.

Table 1. Chemical Analyses of black tea ^#

S.No.	Constituents	g / 100 g dry weight		% availability
		Fresh flush	Black tea	Brew	Infused Leaf *
1	Protein	10-15	10-15	Trace	99
2	Fibre	15-26	15-26	0	100
3	Polyphenols Unoxidized Oxidized	20-30 0	2-5 12-25	5-15 50-60	85-95 40-50
4	Caffeine	2-5	2-5	75-80	20-25
5	Chlorophylls / Carotenes	1.5-2.0	1.5-2.0	Trace	95-99
6	Lipids	2-8	2-8	Trace	90-99
7	Amino acids	3-5	2.7-4.5	80-85	15-20
8	Carbohydrates	6-8	5.5-7.5	50-60	40-50
9	Minerals	3-5	3-5	80-90	10-20

* Calculated Value

^# Based on Ramaswamy, S. In: Global Advances in Tea Science, 1999, pp-745-760.

Grade requirement for tea meant for infused-tea-leaf-consumption

Tea suitable for eating the infused leaf to the consumers of Sahara region of Chad, Niger, Central African Republic and Sudan has been standardized in Ndu Tea Estate, Cameroon.

In conventional black tea processing the Big Bulk of tea is reduced to below 20% so that broken grades like BOP, BOPF, FBOPF etc. are produced in large amount according to the buyers’ requirement. But to make teas suitable for eating, the plantations extend the plucking rounds from 7 to10 days and increase the Big Bulk component to 70-80%.

The broken grades of big bulk (being large in size) yield big sized broken leaf material for chewing and eating, after the tea has been infused. So the consumer gets the benefit of both, tea for drinking and also infused leaf for eating, the latter even by incorporating in pancakes and ethnic foods. This would help in augmenting total consumption of tea.

Processing changes required for marketing infused-tea-leaf for eating

In conventional orthodox black tea manufacture, the harvested shoots normally comprise of 15-20% fine leaf (two and a bud) and the balance three and a bud shoots. But for manufacturing teas meant for infused-tea-leaf consumption, the harvest must contain larger leaves so that during processing the Big Bulk content will go up to 80% on resorting to lighter rolling and minimum extraction of fines (dhools). After optimum fermentation, the big sized leaf mass is dried, cooled, graded and packed. It is obvious that CTC processing is not at all suitable for making such teas due to complete disintegration of leaf lamina.

Marketing experience: Exports verses local infused-tea-leaf consumption

The Tole Estate in the Buea region, close to the sea at 1200-1300 m, managed by Cameroon Development Corporation had their processing tuned to the London auction: they produced traditionally processed black teas of Sri Lankan standards, making Pekoe, OP, BOP, BOPF, and dust grades, which were packed in conventional full, half and quarter chests as required by London Auction. Since London auction was depressed, unexported stock held up at the factory was 416,000 Kg i.e. 43% of its annual crop as on December 1975, due to which their profitability was reduced. On the contrary, the Ndu Tea Estate of Estates & Agency London, located 500 km north of Doula in North West Province of Cameroon at 2000-2300 m, where the author was the general manager, preferred to concentrate its effort to sell its teas for the local markets of Sahara region.

Ndu Tea Estate used to pack tea in 40 kg/chests as Chad Bulk. Another grade obtained by size reduction through tea cutter is packed in 100g yellow packets as Pekoe. Four hundred packets go into a 40-kg chest or 200 packets are packed in 20-kg cartons, which were popular packs as they were easy to transport on Camel backs! The sound marketing policy also kept the unsold stocks down at 100,000 Kg or 10.52% of its annual crop as on December 1975. Total tea production of Ndu tea estate and sale of grades during 1975-76 are given in Table 2. Out of a production of 1,167,065 kg only 2,500 kg was exported to U.K. while the rest of the teas were sold to Sahara area countries, which also re-exported to other countries of North Africa.

Table 2. Sale of grades, price and profitability for 1975-76 of Ndu Tea Estate, Cameroon

	Grade of Tea	Quantity, Kg	Price, CFA*	%
1	Chad Bulk (Big Bulk)	569,579	294.0	48.8
2	Yellow Packets for Chad (Pekoe)	565,120	340.0	48.4
3	Red packets for Cameroon (BOP)	5,006	494.0	0.4
4	Blue Packet	1,031	525.0	0.1
5	Lipton Exports to UK	2,500	455.0	0.2
6	Door Sale	23,829	373.0	2.1
	Total	1,167,065	320.5	100.0
	Cost of Production		282.0
	Profit Before Tax per Kg		38.5
* CFA = 0.02 French Franc

The cost of production in the year 1975-76 was 282 CFA per kg and the profit before tax was 38.5 CFA per kg. Even though Red packets and Blue packets fetched higher prices at 494 CFA and 525 CFA respectively, they accounted for only 0.5 % of total production of the estate. It was therefore more profitable for Ndu Estate to sell in the local market and nearby countries, rather than to sell through London auction, confirming the validity of Company’s Policy. Very few estates there had encashed and supported the local habit of eating infused-tea-leaf.

Economics and commercial potential of infused-tea-leaf-consumption

African countries produced more than 400 m.kg of tea in 2001. The domestic requirement in some 20 West African countries comes to about 200 m.kg of black tea at a per capita consumption of 500g. The population of these countries is 403 million, at about 1-1.5 person per sq.km. The people of Sahara area are generally of Islamic faith, do not take alcohol, lead a pastoral life, and have a shortage of vegetable in their diet. Therefore tea is the best gift one can give to them. Apart from Cameroon, Uganda and other producing countries export Bulk grades to Sahara region where there has been potential for expanding the market for such teas. Local sales, therefore, offer a greater potential.

Conclusion

The eating habit of infused-tea-leaf and marketing of teas in Saharan Africa indicated that a new vista for the Tea Industry would open up, if the tea industry and research institutes could substantiate the food value of the infused leaf and prove the point. The present world production of tea would not be enough to cater to the consuming countries, if fresh-tea-leaf could be sold in vegetable market like spinach. Increase in consumption of infused-tea-leaf would alleviate the problem of over supply of tea and improve the price to take tea industry out of depression.