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The total mineral ion concentration of Rooibos Tea was determined using ICP-OES. Significant concentrations of Na, K, Mg, Ca, P were found, and trace levels of Al, Fe, Mo, Sr, Zn, Ba, Cu and Pb detected. Protocatechuic acid, aspalathin and rutin were identified in Rooibos tea infusions analysed with HPLC. Analysis of tea samples by Ion Chromatography showed the presence of Cr and S042- ions. Rooibos Tea liquor had a pH of 4.6 once equilibrium had been reached. Partition coefficients (1.0 - 1.4 mm sieving fraction) for Na+, K+, Mg2+, protocatechuic acid, aspalathin, rutin, S042- and Cl were determined for infusions at 80 C using a graphical and a successive extraction method. A total mineral content method was also used to determine the partition coefficients for the mineral ions. The Na+, K+, Mg2+,SO42-, H2P04- (as P) and Cl ions as well as protocatechuic acid, aspalathin and rutin all displayed first order behavior, allowing the determination of infusion rate constants. The particle size effect was investigated at 80 C. All the mineral ions showed an increase in infusion rate constant with decreasing particle size, protocatechuic acid and aspalathin showed no trend, while the rutin infusion rate constant was independent of particle size. Calcium uptake by the leaf was observed, this was more pronounced with the smaller particle sizes. Infusion rate constants and hence diffusion coefficients were determined for the nine species for temperatures ranging from 45 to 90 C. These diffusion coefficients for the mineral ions were compared with those for the respective species in aqueous media to give hindrance factors, which were of the order of 102. Except for Cl, all hindrance factors increased with an increase in temperature. The infusion rate constants for all the species at the various temperatures were fitted to an Arrhenius equation and activation energies of infusion determined. The values were lower than those predicted theoretically. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998

Makaibari Tea Estate is one of the plantations in Darjeeling, West Bengal, which has converted to organic practices. Organic agriculture is an acknowledged farming practice, with both environmental and health-related benefits. However, workers’ direct experience of working at an organic tea estate differs. This study was investigating the organic awareness, level of work satisfaction and health among the workers of Makaibari Tea Estate. The aim was to examine what advantages the workers perceive, as well as what limitations there still are to achieve a good work environment. The method used was qualitative and data was collected by interviewing 31 people from six villages belonging to the tea estate. Thematic analysis was used when coding the data. The results show that there is a lack of knowledge and awareness about the meaning of organic, both in a broader perspective, as well as within the tea estate. Even if there is a knowledge deficiency about the organic practices of Makaibari Tea Estate, the workers were very positive about Makaibari being organic. Moreover, the workers of the tea estate had very few health issues with even less of them related to their work situation. The work satisfaction was high but the majority of workers worked unwillingly. To increase the knowledge and awareness of organic, accessible information from the company should be provided on regular basis. Secondly, the wage and the education level should be raised, in order to empower the people on the tea plantation.

Crea8tive Tea LLC is a startup business Panama, Panama City. The main objective of Crea8tive Tea is to serve the freshest Bubble Tea and desserts using the finest possible ingredients in the market by providing different flavors targeted towards the Asian and non-Asian Panamanian market. We will provide products that are natural and of high quality to cater the segment of the population that seeks a gastronomical journey. The Bubble Tea beverage & dessert industry is currently booming and there is an opportunity to leverage this moment and maximize our profits. Fortunately, Bubble Tea is not that known yet, especially for the non-Asian population. Most of the Bubble Tea Shops prepare their drinks with additives and non-natural ingredients that are harmful to our health and Crea8tive wants to target this market. An initial investment of $28,000 is required to start the business and our initial capital investment is of $50,000 funded by two business partners. Based on the financial section, starting from year 2 we will start to see our Return on Investment (ROI). It is important to keep in mind that there is still a risk that Bubble Tea might not be a drink that can be quickly accepted by the non-Asian segment because it is a niche market. On the other hand, our marketing know-how and assorted flavors targeted to the non-Asian Panamanians will be a solution to this challenge and become leaders in the industry.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the international tea trade. The first part of this thesis covers the major producers and consumers of tea trade. The second part of the thesis covers different methods on how to trade such as trades done through auctions and new ways of trading such as forward prices as well as direct prices also known as direct sales. The third part of the thesis covers perspectives and new trends of tea trading.

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This dissertation explores how the tea-growing districts of China and colonial India were integrated into the global division of labor over a formative century of boom-bust expansion. I explore this history of competition by highlighting two dimensions of economic and intellectual change: the intensification of agrarian labor and the synchronous emergence of new paradigms of economic thought. As tea exports from China and India soared and competition grew fiercer, planters, factory overseers, peasants, and government officials shifted their attention from the wealth-creating possibilities of commerce to the value-creating potential of labor and industrial production. This study also historically situates two older, teleological assumptions in the field of Asian economic history: the inevitability of industrialization and of proletarianization. Both assumptions emerged from social and economic transformations during the nineteenth century. In particular, periodic market crises compelled Chinese and colonial Indian officials to seriously question older "Smithian" theories premised upon the "sphere of circulation." Instead, both regional industries pursued interventionist measures focused on the "abode of production." In India, officials passed special laws for indentured labor recruitment. In China, reformers organized tea peasants and workers into agrarian cooperatives. Finally, colonial officials and Bengali reformers in India agreed that they needed to liberate the unfree "coolie" from the shackles of unfree labor. And in China, reformers articulated a critique of rentier "comprador" merchants and moneylenders who exploited peasant labor. Thus, although the "coolie" and "comprador" became twentieth-century symbols of Asian economic backwardness, they were each, as concepts, produced by profound social and economic changes that were dynamic, eventful, and global in nature.

Vermicomposting is a possible method for reducing the amount of landfilled bio- waste. The product of vermicomposting is called worm tea. The thesis deals with the issue of composition and possible usage of worm tea, which is a liquid product of vermicomposting. The aim was to assess the composition and properties of worm tea samples provided from households. Then a mixed sample was tested as a nutrient solution for hydroponic growing. One year operation of a small vermicomposter as a mean of community bio-waste disposal was also assessed in the thesis. Conductivity, pH, content of selected cations and anions and TOC were determined for each worm tea sample. Values of conductivity were then assessed by a correlation test with inhibition values gained from an ecotoxicological test with Sinapis alba. Testing of worm tea as a nutrient solution was done in an opened hydroponic system with Lactuca sativa seedlings. Results show that samples of worm tea are very different and they can not be watered down according to their conductivity as was hypothesised. The largest percentage of samples evinced stimulating qualities in a concentration of 2,5 %. Worm tea can be used as an alternative of nutrient solution for hydroponic growth and it has potential for utilization as an stimulant for germination and...

Includes bibliographical references (21 leaves). Previous studies have found that green tea and its antitoxidant constituents, the catechins, are hypocholesterolaemic in both epidemiological and animal intervetion studies. The main objectives of the present study were to investigate the mechanism by which green tea and its most abundant catechin constituent epigallocatechin gallate increase the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor of HepG2 cells. In addition, it was hoped to determine if a crude catechin extract from green tea could lower plasma cholesterol levels in the hypercholesterolaemic rabbit and ascertain if this effect was due to an increase in the LDL receptor. The study provides evidence that green tea and its catechins exhibit hypocholesterolaemic properties and may therefore provide protection against heart disease.