Can tea stop Covid? Upasi starts research

TNN | Apr 19, 2020, 09:13 IST

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UDHAGAMANDALAM: The United Planters’ Association of South India (Upasi) Tea Research Institute at Coonoor has joined hands with the Tea Board of India and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to study the properties of tea to inhibit the novel coronavirus. The institute has undertaken a study on the antiviral property of theaflavin-3, a compound abundantly found in black tea and catechins from green tea.
According to a press release from Upasi, researchers in Taiwan and China had found that SARS CoV-2 could be inhibited by compounds that are abundant in teas. Numerous black tea polyphenols, especially those of theaflavin-1, theaflavin-2 and theaflavin-3 were found to inhibit the SARS CoV-2 replication. In black tea, theaflavin-3 was the most abundant.
Pointing out that the results suggested that theaflavins might be a good starting point for the design of more active inhibitors for SARSCoV-2, chairman of Upasi Tea Committee C Shreedharan said the compounds are abundant in the extract of black tea produced from the seedling populations belonging to camellia.