Benefits and Risks of Green Tea in Libyan Meals and the Safe Method of Preparing it and Nutritive Advices.

Abstract

This effort clarifies the percentage of daily tannin and caffeine in Libyan green tea beverages. Also, it is to know the extent of Libyan's awareness of the healthy method of preparing green tea. As well as it is to know the nutritional and healthy benefits of green tea and nutritive advice. 12 samples of vert de chine of green tea were analyzed. 12 samples were divided into four groups. Each group contained three samples. The preparations include raw samples steeped in boiled water, samples heated for 5 minutes, samples heated for half an hour, and samples heated for an hour. The heating temperature was at 100C˚. A cross-sectional study was randomly achieved on 200 healthy Libyan people (100 men and 100 women) aged from 30 to 45 years old from 1 January to 31 March 2023 in Derna, Libya. The questionnaire was about the type of preparation method of green tea, boiling time, and their knowledge about the nutritional benefits and health risks of green tea beverages. The caffeine percentages were 1.6 %, 2.1 %, 2.5%, and 4.7%, respectively. Also, the highest tannin participation in green tea (heated for an hour) was 91 mg/100ml. This value is higher than the values in raw green tea steeped in boiled water and heated for 5 minutes, which were 0.109 mg/100 ml and 0.49 mg/100 ml, respectively. The heating time affects the proportion of caffeine and tannin in green tea drinks; as the heating time rises, the percentage of caffeine and tannin rises. There was a statistically significant difference between percentages of caffeine and tannin according to their heating times (P= 0.031). The proportion of tannin in green tea was higher than caffeine. The expansion of tannin percentage in green tea may lead to genetic faults and other problems. This indicates that raw green tea steeped in boiled water and boiled green tea for 5 minutes may nutritionally be regarded as the most excellent for improving human health because they provide the smallest percentages of caffeine and tannin in Libyan routinely prepared green tea drinks. However, no participant preferred to steep green tea in boiled water.