Assam produces more than 60 % of total tea production in the world.

1. Assam Tea

2. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
AREA
• Assam is situated in the north-eastern parts of India.
• It has a total geographical area of 78,438 sq km.
• The State has been divided into three physical divisions, viz
– (i) Brahmaputra valley (Major River in south-east Asia)
– (ii) Barak valley and
– (iii) The hilly region consisting of Karbi-Anglong and Dima-Hasao.
There are four seasons in the state viz.
(a) Pre-monsoon
(b) Monsoon
(c) Post-monsoon or Retreating monsoon and
(d) winter
The present population of Assam has four basic racial traits: the ‘Proto-
Australoid’, ‘Mangoloid’, ‘Aryo-Mangoloid’ and ‘Aryo-Mangolod-
Dravidian’
‘Bihu’ is one of the important festival celebrated mainly in the Brahmaputra
valley.
Assamese society has been reformed by ‘neo-Vaishnava Bhakti movement’, by
‘Sankardeva and Madhabdeva’.

3. Assam

5. • The introduction of the Assam tea bush to Europe is related
to Robert Bruce, a Scottish adventurer in the year 1823.
• ‘Camellia sinensis var Assamica’, or Assam Tea
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF ASSAM
TEA

6. TYPES OF TEA
• From one tea plant, it is possible to derive six types of tea can
result from modifications in the processing method– type of
tea plant, the cultivar etc
• Green tea
• Yellowtea
• White tea
• Oolongtea
• Black teaand
• Post-fermentedtea

7. Green tea Yellow tea White tea
Oolong tea Black tea Post-fermented

8. • Yellow tea: This gives the leaves a slightly yellow colouring during the
drying process.
• White tea :White tea may refer to one of several styles of tea which
generally feature young or minimally processed leaves of the Camellia
sinensis plant.
• Oolong Tea: Oolong is neither a black tea nor a green tea. Oolong tea
falls in between and is often described as a partially oxidized tea.
• Black tea is a type of tea that more oxidized than oolong, green,
and white teas. Black tea is generally stronger in flavour than the less
oxidized teas.
• Post-fermented teas are a class of teas that have undergone a period
of "aging" in open air, from several months to many years.
• The exposure of the tea to microflora, humidity and oxygen in the air
causes it to undergo further oxidation through auto-oxidation,
fermentation, and possibly some reactivated oxidative enzymes in the
tea.

13. Guatemala grass (Tripsacum andersonii)
Lemongrass (Cymbopogon)
Species used for Bio-manure in the Organic Tea
Garden

14. Ethnobotany of Biofencing in Organic
Tea Garden
• Raising plants as live fencing in tea gardens is a traditional
practice among the tea garden communities.
• 27 plants species has been used that included shrubs,
succulent shrubs and deciduous climbers with potential
economic value and also strong soil binding properties
• The traditional biofencing practice is not only to protect the
home gardens but also a part of conservation and sustainable
use of biodiversity of tea garden.

15. Biofencing Species in Organic Tea Garden
Adasarmu, Bakas (Adhatoda vasica)
Nees)
Bon anaras (Agave americana L.)
Bahns (Bambusa tulda Roxb.)
Bahns (Bambusa multiplex (Lour.)
Rausch

16. Bamunhati (Clerodendrum bungi Steud) Kanakanta (Duranta repens L.)
Kanakanta (Duranta erecta L.) Kanakanta (Duranta plumeri L.)

17. Sasiju (Euphorbia nerifolia L).
Paniara (Ipomea carnea Jacq) Chandrakantri (Ipomea carnea Jacq)
Joba (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis)

18. Bhotera, Bagbherenda (Jatropha curcus ) Jogotmadan /Bikhalyakoroni
(Justicia gendarussa Burm).
Bagbherenda (Jatropha gossypifolia L.) Bonbahar (Lantana camara )L

19. Kol (Musa paradisiaca L.) Nagphana ( Opuntia ficus-indica L.)
Nagphana (Opuntia macrorhyza L.) Nagphana (Opuntia robusta L.)

20. Nagphana (Opuntia paraguayensis L.) Gandhali (Paederia scandens )L.
Eri, Arand (Ricinus communis L.) Kohuwa (Saccharum spontaneum L.

21. Titakuchi ( Solanum spirale Roxb.) Pasatia (Vitex negundo L.)

22. GREEN TEA
• In preparing Green tea, the Oxidizing enzymes are killed by
steam blasting and roasting.
• The leaf is then subjected to further heating and rolling until it
turns dark green and takes a bluish color.
• The leaves are finally dried to a moisture content of 3 to 4
percent
• With the inactivation of ‘Polyphenol oxidase’ (Catalyst), it
remains colourless, allowing the processed leaf to remain
green
• The absence of the ‘Aflavins’ and the ‘Arubigins’ (Catalyst), in
the finished leaf also gives the beverage a weaker flavour than
black tea

23. ORGANIC GREEN TEA IN
ASSAM
• Organic tea is produced using environmentally-friendly methods of
cultivation.
• Organic tea farmers use traditional, natural methods of pest and weed
control.
• Every leaf is picked by hand, and the leaves that will be used to produce the
organic green tea are boiled and then roasted and finally dried under the sun
to a distinctive taste and flavor.
• Studies have proved that green tea can prevent cancer since it
contains ‘Catechin’.
• Green tea ‘Catechin’ has also been shown to limit the Excessive rise in blood
cholesterol as well as prevent high blood pressure.
• Green tea is a strong antioxidant as well and is even more powerful than
vitamin E or vitamin C due to the presence of ‘Polyphenols’, such as
‘Epigallocatechin gallate’ (EGCG)

24. ORGANIC GREEN TEA COMPOSITION
• The best-known constituent of tea is Caffeine, which gives the beverage
its stimulating character but contributes only a little to Colour, Flavour,
and Aroma.
• About 4 per cent of the solids in fresh leaf are caffeine, and one tea cup of
the beverage contains 60 to 90 milligrams of Caffeine
• The most important chemicals in tea are the ‘Tannins’, or ‘Polyphenols’,
which are colourless, bitter-tasting substances that give the drink its
astringency.
• When acted upon by an enzyme called ‘Polyphenol oxidase’, polyphenols
acquire a reddish colour and form the flavouring compounds of the
beverage
• Green tea contains ‘Polyphenols’, which include Flava-nols, Flavandiols,
Flavonoids, and Phenolic acids; these compounds may account for up to
30 per cent of the dry weight.

26. Chemical composition of Green Tea
SL no. Elements Percentage
1. Proteins (15-20% dry weight)
2. Amino acids (such as Theanine or 5-N-Ethylglutamine,
Glutamic acid, Trypto-phan, Glycine, Serine, Aspartic
acid, Tyrosine, Valine, Leucine, Threonine, Arginine,
and Lysine)
(1- 4% dry weight)
3. Carbohydrates such as Cellulose, Pectins, Glucose,
Fructose, and Sucrose
(5-7% dry weight)
4. Minerals and trace elements (such as Calcium,
Magnesium, Chromium, Manganese, Iron, Copper,
Zinc, Molybdenum, Selenium, Sodium, Phosphorus,
Cobalt, Strontium, Nickel, Potassium, Fluorine, and
Aluminum)
5% dry weight)
5. Lipids (linoleic and alinolenic acids)
6. Sterols (stigmas-terol)
Vitamins (B, C, E),
Xanthic bases (Caffeine, theophylline)
Pigments (chlorophyll, Carotenoids)
Volatile compounds (Aldehydes, Alcohols, Esters,
Lactones, hydrocarbons)
Most of the green tea polyphenols (GTPs) are Flavonols, commonly known as ‘Catechins’.

27. Benefits of Organic Green Tea
• Green tea Catechins provide some protection against degenerative
diseases
• Green tea has an antiproliferative activity on Hepatoma cells and a
Hypolipidemic activity as well as the prevention of Hepatoxicity and as a
preventive agent against mammary cancer post initiation.
• Green tea Catechins also act as Antitumorigenic agents.
• Green tea consumption has also been linked to the prevention of many
types of cancer, including lung, colon, esophagus, mouth, stomach, small
intestine, kidney, pancreas, and mammary glands.

28. Tourism Perspective
• Tea tourism is 'tourism that is motivated by an interest in the history,
traditions, and consumption of tea‘.
• Tourists consume the tea experience on all levels including the 'history,
growth, production, processing, blending, and consumption’
• It is clear that Assam has enormous potential for the development of tea
tourism since these regions are closely relate to tea production since long .
• It is the engaging tea related tourism activities namely visits to
plantations to watch the plucking and then the processing of
tea.

29. • The fertile valleys of the Brahmaputra grow some of the
world’s finest and the most prized teas.

30. • But some of the tea estates in Assam are now converting their
British-built old bungalows into luxury lodgings.

31. • One can also witness the tea tasting session,
which can be a unique experience.

32. • During monsoon seasons when the tea
harvest begins. Tourist can enjoy plucking of
fragrant leafs learn about the fascinating bush
to cup.

33. Foreign tourists
• Tea tourism, though a new concept, is fast catching on with
more and more tourists making their way to the lush green
tea estates.
• Particularly among the foreigners, whose fathers,
grandfathers and even great grandfathers spent their lives in
the tea gardens in India.
• Many of those who spent their early days in the tea gardens,
but are now settled in their own countries, have fond
memories.
• A few days stay in tea gardens is like a journey down the
memory lane.
• Those who did not grow up in the gardens but heard stories
from their fathers and grandfathers too, are keen to have first-
hand knowledge of what life is like for a planter.

34. • There is still another group of foreigners who prefer to spend
a few days in tea gardens when they come to visit the old
British cemeteries spread all over the North-East.
• A large number of white men died here fighting
unsuccessfully either malaria in the marshy lands of the then
undivided Assam or the Japanese attack in the hills of Arakan.
Tea experience
• Tea tourism, it is often said, is answer to what Europe calls
wine tourism where the visitors stay in the vineyards, observe
wine-making process, taste the wine, shop for wine and local
crafts and produce.