A minireview of effects of white tea consumption on diseases

Tea, is the most common beverage obtained from leaves of Camellia sinensis plant. Tea is classified as green, yellow, white, oolong, black and Pu-erh due to fermentation process. Important differences of tea species are originated from cultivating conditions of the plant, harvesting procedures and processing of leaves. Green tea and white tea are not fermented, black tea is full fermented and oolong tea is semi-fermented. The most produced tea types in the world are black tea, green tea, oolong tea and white teaspoon respectively. The white tea which has very young tea leaves and buds covered with small, white-silver fuzz is harvested once a year in early spring and has a very mild, sweet taste. There are more catechin and its derivatives in white tea than other tea species. Especially, because of the fact that containing epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) component, white tea has positive effects on health. Cardioprotective, antidiabetic, neuroprotective, anticarcinogenic effects, antimutagenic activities, antimicrobial and anti-obesity properties are important effects of white tea. For these reasons; white tea is known to have protective effects against cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes mellitus, obesity, central nervous system and microorganism-based diseases. In this review, the production of white tea, its composition and the effect of it on health were examined and compared with different tea types.