The Himachal-based Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology has developed a concoction from tea, which they plan to use in food items.
PALAMPUR , (Himachal Pradesh): For those of you tired with eating coffee toffees and coffee ice-creams, here's something new: tea toffees, tea ice-creams and tea biscuits. If that doesn't sound exciting enough, there's tea wine too.
The Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology here has come up with a tea concentrate that retains the flavour and medicinal value of tea and can be used to make a variety of food items. The institute worked with Kangra tea, which was once as popular as Darjeeling tea.
Says PS Ahuja, director of the institute, "Tea has great medicinal value. The anti-oxidants found in it act as an anti-ageing agent. The use of tea in food items will not only give people something new, but will also be good for health."
Although the caffeine content of tea is much less than coffee, the institute has decaffeinated the tea concentrate to make it healthier for consumption.
"We would use the tea concentrate for confectionary and pharmaceutical products," says Ahuja, adding, the antioxidants, mood enhancing natural constituents and aroma will be preserved in the formulations.
The institute would be shortly tying up with the Himachal Pradesh Cooperative Marketing Federation to sell ready-to-drink cold tea.
At present, an alternative use of tea is the production of tea wine. Ahuja says tea wine is prepared in the conventional manner with yeast and tea dust in specific proportions.
It is matured for a period of one year. "The anti-oxidants are kept intact. The product has huge acceptance among soldiers and hence we have given it the brand name 'Kargil Sepoy.'
The institute plans to promote the alternate uses of tea vigorously to breathe a new life into the sagging Kangra tea industry. "The tea concentrate can also be used in cosmetics to enhance their anti-aging factors," says Ahuja.
A challenge, Ahuja says, is to clear the misconceptions about tea. "People think tea causes acidity, is bad for the skin and is not good for children. None of this is true." Are you ready for your tea break?
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