Issues in Biological Sciences and Pharmaceutical Research
Vol.2(1), pp.008-012,January 2014
ISSN 2350-1588
Article ID BSPR021,05 pages
Copyright © 2014 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. Author(s) agree that this article remain permanently open access under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0 International License

Review

Green tea: A review on its natural anti-oxidant therapy and cariostatic benefits

Accepted 8 January, 2014

Dev Anand Gupta^*1, Dara John Bhaskar¹, Rajendra Kumar Gupta², Bushra Karim¹, Ankita Jain¹, Deepak  Ranjan Dalai¹

¹Department of Public Health Dentistry, Teerthanker Mahaveer Dental College and Research Centre, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.
²Principal, Govt. P.G College, Lansdowne, Uttrakhand, India.

Corresponding Author Email: guptaphd(at)ymail.com
Tel.: +918899746798

 Abstract

Green tea is a leading beverage in the Far East for thousands of years; it is regarded for a long time as a health product. Green tea has been consumed mainly in India, China, Japan, and Thailand. Studies are now suggesting that green tea (Camellia sinensis) in particular has many health benefits. Many biological effects of green tea and its constituents have been reported. In present years, tea has attracted focus for its potential for preventing cancer since it contains pytochemicals like polyphenols that act as antioxidants. Polyphenols including epigallocatechin 3 gallate (EGCG) constitute the most interesting components in green tea leaves. The antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticollagenase, antimutagenic and chemopreventive properties of these catechins proved to be helpful in the treatment of chronic diseases like periodontal disease. There is a direct bactericidal effect of Green Tea on Streptococcus mutans. Some catechins present in green tea interact with bacteria present on tooth surface by binding to its bacterial cellular proteins and decreasing its hydrophobicity and thus inhibits its adherence. The enzymatic activity of glucosyl transferase from Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus is inhibited by tea catechins and thus play cariostatic role.

Key words: Green tea, antioxidant, cariostatic