Insect tea, a wonderful work in the Chinese tea culture

Insect tea, listed in the Compendium of Materia Medica by Li Shizhen, is not only a traditional drink for the ethnic minority in southwest China, but also one of China's traditional export commodities. Insect tea is made of the feces of insects that feed on plants, and characterized by minimal dose, enjoyable tea flavor, few tea-residues, and superb transparency. Insect tea has been used to clear summer heat, protect the spleen and stomach, and facilitate digestion. Modern research has suggested that insect tea is safe and nutritional, and it has blood lipid lowering, antihypertensive and hypoglycemic effects. At present, due to the household production of insect tea, there are a variety of species of tea-producing insects and feeding plants. In the present review, we summarized the types, civilian applications, nutritional value, pharmacological activity and safety of insect tea, in an effort to provide scientific knowledge for future study. Crown Copyright (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.