A study on the commersialisation history of Cape herbal teas and their phenolic compounds was conducted by Dr Marietjie Stander, Prof Ben-Erik van Wyk, Herman Redelinghuys and Thomas Brendler.
Thirty seven tea samples from a depository of 1933, supplied by the Clanwilliam Museum, were analysed.
Highly specialised analytical techniques (liquid-chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry) were used to distinguish between the different tea samples. The focus was on the phenolic components in the tea because they provide the perceived health benefits and are also used in quality control of commercial rooibos teas. Results showed that one of the samples – the 1933 Nortier rooibos tea, the tea from which cultivated rooibos tea emanated, is identical to rooibos tea we buy in shops today. This shows that phenolic compounds in rooibos tea are stable when stored in a dry place and that the tea's phenolic characteristics have not changed since it was cultivated on a commercial scale more than 80 years ago.
The study also identified the previously unidentified reed tea (riettee), which is another herbal tea wild-harvested by the people in the Cederberg region, as Thesium macrostachyum.
The samples used for the study were put in the depository by Benjamin Ginsberg and are known as the Nortier collection. Ginsberg and Pieter Lafras Nortier (a medical doctor) were instrumental in the commersialisation of Rooibos tea. This selection of teas gives us interesting information in the decision-making process of Nortier on how the specific tea was selected to cultivate and develop the industry.
The Russian Jewish Ginsberg family moved to the Clanwilliam area in 1903 and was introduced to rooibos tea by the local people. They were descendants of the Russian Popoff family who had the distribution rights for black tea in Europe and taught the local people how to improve the way they harvested and processed the tea. They started buying and selling the tea in their local store and in 1907 rooibos tea was presented in Europe for the first time, but it took 70 more years to reach the international market on a larger scale.
Media contact only:
Dr Maria A. Stander
Mass Spectrometry Facility, Central Analytical Facilities, Stellenbosch University
lcms@sun.ac.za
http://www.sun.ac.za/english/faculty/science/CAF/units/mass-spectrometry
Reference:
Stander, M.A., Brendler, T., Redelinghuys, H. & Van Wyk, B-E. 2019. The commercial history of Cape herbal teas and the analysis of phenolic compounds in historic teas from a depository of 1933. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. Vol 76 (2019): 66-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2018.11.001
