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THE ROOIBOS PLANT

The Rooibos tea plant grows only in South Africa in the Cederberg area, a mountainous area 250 km northof Cape Town. Only here you can find the special combination of soil and climate that is necessary for thisplant to grow. No alternative source of supply of this unique product is available anywhere in the world!

The Aspalathus plant group, part of the legume family to which Rooibos belongs, consists of more than 200 species which occur only in South Africa. Only the species Aspalathus linearis hasany economic value.

The plant is a shrub-like bush with a central, smooth-barked main stem. Near the soil surface the stemsubdivides into a number of strong offshoots, followed by delicate side branches each bearing, singly or inclusters, soft, needle-like leaves some ten centimeters in length.

The plant’s height at maturity varies from 1 to 1.5 meters in its natural state, while the height of harvestedplants varies from 0.5 to 1.5 meters, depending on the age of the plant, the climate and soil conditions.

ROOIBOS TEA is a herbal tea, has a tasty flavour is totally pure and natural. It contains no caffeine,colorants or preservatives. Rooibos tea doesn't have any negative side effects! It can relieve depression.It can relieve stress. It can even relieve constipation, and a wide variety of other problems ranging from

insomnia to colic. It helps you relax at bedtime but also keeps you refreshed during the day.

The Cederberg area

The Rooibos tea plant(Aspalathus linearis) Rooibos tea plus tea bag 

Rooibos Tea, which is sometimes misspelled as Rooibus Tea, is also known as Red Bush Tea or just RedTea, because the plant leaves turn reddish-brown as the rooibos plant ripens. The Japanese chose to give it

another name based on its anti-aging properties, namely Long Life Tea. Japan has done extensive

research on its healing properties and consumes every year more than 300 tons of the tea.

Japanese studies have shown that Rooibos tea is comparable to green tea regarding the amounts of polyphenols it contains. It shows anti-mutagenic, anti-carcinogenic, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral activity.In fact, it contains more antioxidants than many green teas.

THE PRODUCTION OF ROOIBOS TEA

The Rooibos farmer can expect his first harvest after one-and-a-half years. After three years the bushes willbe in full production.

Harvest time is during the summer (from January till approx. May). Branches are cut by hand andtransported to the certified production lines where they are cut to pieces of about 3-5 mm.

Next, the tea is wet thoroughly and bruised. The tea is then placed in fermentation heaps and allowed tosweat or ferment for 8 to 24 hours. After this the tea is dried in the sun on special yards. The dried teas arethen sifted and sterilized (see picture). The tea is then graded into various categories based upon taste,length of the cut and appearance.

One of the most important selections is if the tea is for the export market (best quality) or for the local marketand if it is organic or non organic tea.

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Rooibos tea is subjected to a very strict micro-biological test before it is sent to our customers.

Rooibos herb and tea information by Ray Sahelian, M.D. Rooibos herb(Aspalathus linearis)

Rooibos tea originates from the leaves and stems of the indigenous SouthAfrican plant Aspalathus linearis. Rooibos tea is also known as Red-Bush and

grows on high mountain ranges. Rooibos has gained much attention for clinical purposes in the case of nervous tension, allergies, dermatitis, andvarious digestive problems. Recently, antioxidant activity has also beenattributed to the tea on the basis of its flavonoid content.

As of March 2009, I could not find any published studies in humansregarding the benefits or side effects of rooibos tea or supplements.

Constituents of Rooibos herb and its active ingredients

Rooibos contains different bioactive phenolic compounds such as dihydrochalcones,flavonols, flavanones, flavones, and flavanols. The main flavonoids in rooibosare dihydrochalcone aspalthin, rutin, quercetin, luteolin, nothofagin, andorientin. Another flavonoid is rooibos herb is chrysoeriol (luteolin 3'-methylether). This flavonoid is known for antioxidant, antiinflammatory, antitumor,antimicrobial, and antiviral properties.

What does the research say about Rooibos herb?

Rooibos tea is a powerful antioxidant, has anti-HIV activity, may protect brain cells

from damage by toxins, and additionally has anti-tumor potential. Rooibos tea

administration prevents age-related accumulation of lipid peroxides in several

regions of rat brain.Dr. Sahelian says: I have rooibos tea on my kitchen counter, along with a dozen or

so different teas, and I drink a cup once in a while.

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natural medicine topics -- including rooibos herb -- and their practical

interpretation by Ray Sahelian, M.D. 

Fermented and unfermented rooibos teaWhat is the difference between fermented (red) and unfermented (green)forms of rooibos tea.

Rooibos tea leaves can be quickly dried after picking to prevent oxidationand this is called green rooibos. When rooibos tea leaves are fermented,they turn an orange red color. The unfermented green rooibos tea has ahigher antioxidant level. Fermented rooibos tea has a sweeter taste.

Rooibos for skin applied topically

I am working on an article for a natural health magazine and luckily justcame across your website and some information that you had on rooibos.Basically, this article is covering global skin care and for South Africa, I amfeaturing rooibos. Would you be able to tell me how rooibos can help skinwhen applied topically?

Limited studies in rodents indicate that certain compounds in rooibosherb are able to cross through the skin and help with tumor prevention. Ihave not seen studies in humans regarding the benefit of rooibos herbingredients in terms of skin care or to prevent or treat wrinkles.

Inhibition of tumour promotion in mouse skin by extracts of rooibos

(Aspalathus linearis) and honeybush (Cyclopia intermedia), unique SouthAfrican herbal teas.Cancer Lett. 2005 June. Marnewick J, Joubert E, Joseph S, Swanevelder S,Swart P, Gelderblom W. PROMEC Unit, Medical Research Council, P.O. Box19070, Tygerberg 7505, South Africa.The modulating effect of ethanol/acetone (E/A) soluble fractions, preparedfrom methanolic extracts of processed and unprocessed rooibos(Aspalathus linearis) and honeybush (Cyclopia intermedia) as well as green(Camellia sinensis) teas was established in a two-stage mouse skincarcinogenesis assay. Topical application of the tea fractions prior to thetumour promoter, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), on ICR

mouse skin initiated with 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)suppressed skin tumorigenesis significantly with the green tea E/A fractionexhibiting a 100% inhibition, unprocessed honeybush 90%, processedhoneybush 84%, processed rooibos 75% and unprocessed rooibos 60%.The green tea fraction, with the highest flavanol/proanthocyanidin content,also exhibited the highest protective activity (99%) against hepaticmicrosomal lipid peroxidation, and completely inhibited skin tumour formation.

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Transport of aspalathin, a Rooibos tea flavonoid, across the skin andintestinal epithelium.Phytother Res. 2008 May. Huang M, du Plessis J, du Preez J, Hamman J,Viljoen A. University of the Witwatersrand, Department of Pharmacy andPharmacology, 7 York Road, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa.

This study investigated the in vitro transport of aspalathin, a uniqueflavonoid constituent of Rooibos tea, across intestinal epithelial cells andthe human skin. The transport studies were conducted for both pureaspalathin solutions and extracts from unfermented (or green) Rooibos(Aspalathus linearis) aerial plant material across human abdominal skin invertical Franz diffusion cells and Caco-2 cell monolayers in Transwell 6-well plates. Only 0.01% of the initial aspalathin dose from both the testsolution and extract permeated through the skin. A portion of 0.07% of theinitial aspalathin dose penetrated the different layers of the skin for thegreen Rooibos extract solution and 0.08% for the pure aspalathin solution.The transport of aspalathin across Caco-2 cell monolayers was

concentration dependent and reached almost 100% of the initial dose in thehighest concentration tested for the extract, while it was only 79%of theinitial dose for the highest concentration of the aspalathin solution.

Topical rooibos for hair growthThere are claims that rooibos constituents, when applied topically, lead tohair growth. Cosmetochem international claims to have done a rooibos hair study back in 1998, but a search on Pubmed in 2008 using the keywordsrooibos hair does not lead to any published studies.

Aspalathin information

What is the specific benefit of aspalathin from rooibos tea? Why is itaspalathin better or stronger than other antioxidants? Also, does greenrooibos have a higher concentration of aspalathin and greater anti-agingpotential?

There are countless antioxidants in fruits, vegetables, herbs and variousplants. Each antioxidant works in a slightly different way in the body. It isnot practical to claim aspalathin is better than EGCG in green tea or vitaminE, or astaxanthin, etc. Just as it is preferable to eat a variety of fruits andvegetables, it is a good idea to consume a number of different antioxidants.I am not aware of any actual studies done with aspalathin supplements.Limited evidence suggest green rooibos has a higher antioxidant profilethan red, but for practical purposes it should not make too muchdifference.

Rooibos Tea Research studiesModulation of hepatic drug metabolizing enzymes and oxidative status byrooibos (Aspalathus linearis) and Honeybush (Cyclopia intermedia), greenand black (Camellia sinensis) teas in rats.J Agric Food Chem. 2003 Dec 31;51(27):8113-9.

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Rooibos and honeybush teas significantly enhanced the activity of cytosolic glutathione S-transferase alpha. A significant to marginalincrease in the activity of the microsomal UDP-glucuronosyl transferasewas obtained with unprocessed rooibos and honeybush teas, respectively.Oxidized glutathione (GSSG) levels were significantly reduced in the liver 

of all tea treated rats while reduced glutathione (GSH) was markedlyincreased in the liver of the herbal tea treated rats. These changes resultedin a significant increase in the GSH/GSSG ratio by the unprocessed,processed rooibos and unprocessed honeybush teas. Green and blackteas markedly to significantly decreased the oxygen radical absorbancecapacity in liver homogenates, respectively. Modulation of phase II drugmetabolizing enzymes and oxidative status in the liver may be importantevents in the protection against adverse effects related to mutagenesis andoxidative damage.

Unfermented rooibos tea: quantitative characterization of flavonoids by

HPLC-UV and determination of the total antioxidant activity.J Agric Food Chem. 2003 Dec 3;51(25):7472-4.Unfermented rooibos originates from the leaves and the stems of theindigenous South African plant, Aspalathus linearis, and it has beenreported to have a higher content of flavonoids compared to that of fermented rooibos. Main compounds determined were aspalathin,isoorientin, orientin, and rutin, followed in order by isovitexin, vitexin,isoquercitrin and hyperoside, quercetin, luteolin and chrysoeryol.

Hepatoprotective effect of rooibos tea (Aspalathus linearis) on CCl4-induced liver damage in rats.

Physiol Res. 2003;52(4):461-6.Hepatoprotective properties of rooibos tea (Aspalathus linearis) wereinvestigated in a rat model of liver injury induced by carbon tetrachloride(CCl(4)). Rooibos tea, like N-acetyl-L-cysteine which was used for thecomparison, showed histological regression of steatosis and cirrhosis inthe liver tissue with a significant inhibition of the increase of liver tissueconcentrations of malondialdehyde, triacylglycerols and cholesterol.Simultaneously, rooibos tea significantly suppressed mainly the increasein plasma activities of aminotransferases (ALT, AST), alkaline phosphataseand billirubin concentrations, which are considered as markers of liver functional state. The antifibrotic effect in the experimental model of hepaticcirrhosis of rats suggests the use of rooibos tea as a plant hepatoprotector in the diet of patients with hepatopathies.

Effects of rooibos tea extract on antigen-specific antibody production andcytokine generation in vitro and in vivo.Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2001 Oct;65(10):2137-45.Rooibos tea contains a large amount of flavonoids and acts as a potentantioxidant. In this study, we examined the effects of Rooibos tea extract

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on antigen-specific antibody production and cytokine generation in vitroand in vivo. Our findings suggested that Rooibos tea extract may facilitatethe antigen-specific antibody production through selective augmentation of IL-2 generation both in vitro and in vivo. Collectively, Rooibos tea intakemay be of value in prophylaxis of the diseases involving a severe defect in

Th1 immune response such as cancer, allergy, AIDS, and other infections.

Anti-human immunodeficiency virus activity of oligosaccharides fromrooibos tea (Aspalathus linearis) extracts in vitro.Leukemia. 1997 Apr;11 Suppl 3:128-30.The active substances, acid polysaccharides, were extracted with 1%sodium hydroxide from the leaves of rooibos tea (Aspalathus linearis), DuZhong Cha (Eucommia ulmoides Oliv.) and Japanese tea leaves (Camelliasinensis). The alkaline extracts of Rooibos tea and Du-Zhong tea leaves,but not Japanese tea leaves suppressed the HIV-induced cytopathicityusing HIV (HTLV-III) infected MT-4 cells. From these results, it is probable

that acid polysaccharides from rooibos tea were extremely safe, and thatHIV infection may be suppressed by daily intake of the alkaline extracts of rooibos tea and Du-Zhong tea.

The suppression of age-related accumulation of lipid peroxides in rat brainby administration of Rooibos tea (Aspalathus linearis).Neurosci Lett. 1995 Aug 18;196(1-2):85-8.The protective effects of Rooibos tea, Aspalathus linearis, against damageto the central nervous system (CNS) accompanying aging were examinedby both the thiobarbituric acid reaction (TBA) and magnetic resonanceimaging (MRI) methods in brains of chronically Rooibos tea-treated rats. Ad

libitum administration of Rooibos tea was begun with 3-month-old Wistar female rats and continued for 21 months. The contents of TBA reactivesubstances (TBARS) in the frontal cortex, occipital cortex, hippocampusand cerebellum in 24-month-old rats after administration with water weresignificantly higher than those in young rats (5 weeks old). However, nosignificant increase of TBARS was observed in Rooibos tea-administeredaged rats. When MR images of the brains of 24-month-old rats with andwithout Rooibos tea as well as 5-week-old rats were taken, a decrease of the signal intensity was observed in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus andcerebellum in MR images of aged rats without Rooibos tea, whereas littlechange of the signal intensity was observed in MR images of the sameregions of 24-month-old rats treated with Rooibos tea, whose images weresimilar to those of young rats. These observations suggested that (1) theage-related accumulation of lipid peroxides in the brain was closely relatedto the morphological changes observed by MRI, and (2) chronic Rooibostea-administration prevented age-related accumulation of lipid peroxides inseveral regions of rat brain. Whether drinking rooibos tea regularlyenhances longevity in humans is not known.

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Brief History of Rooibos plantRooibos has been drank as a traditional beverage in South Africa by theindigenous peoples for millennia. The name rooibos means red bush, aword given by the Dutch Afrikaaners to the plant, whose leaves turn areddish color upon drying and fermentation. Rooibos tea has been

marketed in the United States since at least the early 1960s whenWorthington Foods introduced a beverage named Kaffree containing therooibos plant.

Johannesburg, Nov 2006- A South African woman, who claims to be theworld's oldest living person at 132, advocates fresh food and exercise asthe keys to longevity. Moloko Temo holds an identity card from the SouthAfrican government confirming her birth on July 4, 1874, but internationalauthorities have not verified her age and The Guinness Book of Recordsgives the title of oldest person to a French woman who died aged 122 and164 days in 1997. For Moloko Temo, breakfast consists of warm, fresh

baked bread, sometimes with a pat of margarine, and herbal rooibus tea.Lunch and dinner is a vegetarian meal of maize, a starchy thin porridge,drenched in fresh milk. She also recommends as a side dish morogo, aleafy African vegetable high in protein and vitamins. Her advise to stayinghealthy is to "eat (natural foods) and exercise every day."

Rooibos tea and rooibos supplement emailsQ. I enjoy reading your newsletter and was particularly interested in your discussion on teas. You didn't mention a tea that I have been told about -it's called rooibos tea red bush and it is supposed to have multiple healingproperties when taken regularly. The tea is from Africa and is supposed to

have "x" (25, 50) times the amount of antioxidents that green tea has. If thebenefits are really there, it would be nice to spread the word. Conversely, if the claims are false, we might be better off trying something else and saveour money. Thanks.

A. We will update this page on rooibos as more research is published.

Q. I am trying to get the truth on receiving the health benifits from rooibostea. I have been told by a wholesaler that is necessary to boil the tea for itto produce it's health benifits. Do you know if this is true?

A. I don't know for sure what kind of difference boiling makes, but thelonger a leaf or tea is brewed, the more of the ingredients in the herb areseeped into the water. In many cases hot water facilitates the seeping of the chemicals in an herb into the water.

Q. I write for a health magazine and we are doing a roundup of workoutenergy drinks and we mentioned a product called ReddRox. The ReddRoxproduct includes an ingredient called rooibos and we’d like to get anexpert’s take on it. Can you please confirm that rooibos can increase your stamina if you drink it before a workout?

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A. Rooibos is a plant popular in tea form. A June 2009 Medline search didnot reveal any human studies that have evaluated rooibos tea in terms of athletic performance or endurance. At this time there is no reason tosuspect rooibos tea would have a stamina boost superior to that of other teas.

Does rooibos provide electrolytes and minerals, such as sodium,potassium and magnesium, all which you lose through sweat.

I find it difficult to accept this claim. Rooibos is a tea that can provideantioxidants and is a healthy addition to one's tea consumption, but it ispremature to make fantastic claims about this tea. There are countlessherbs and teas that have health benefits.