The Journal of the Japanese Society of Food Science and Technology reports that EGCG also inhibits the growth of the bacteria that cause cavities, dental plaque and even halitosis. Already there exist several patents for the use of EGCG extracts in toothpastes and mouthwashes for controlling plaque. As the evidence mounts, you as a tea-drinker can draw ever increasing pleasure that you have discovered this amazing beverage. As different as these teas obviously are, they are actually all made from the same plant, Camellia sinensis, a relative of those beautiful camellias growing in your garden. The difference lies in what tea producers call fermentation, a process of letting the juices in the broken tea leaves oxidize for a certain period of time.
Black tea is oxidized the longest and results in the familiar dark leaf.
It generally produces a correspondingly darker liquor, ranging from a beautiful light amber to a dark reddish brown. Because of this longer oxidation, its chemical properties are quite different than either oolong or green teas. One result is that most of the caffeine is freed from its chemical bond with the tannins, this gives black tea its unique flavor as well as its healthful properties. Even though black tea may have more caffeine than the other types, it will still generally contain only a quarter to half the caffeine in a typical cup of coffee. Oolong requires several minutes longer brewing time than either black or green teas.