Importantly, there is a variety of tea on the market now called “White Tea”, which is basically immature tea. While tasting much the same, it has even more bioflavanoids than does green or black tea.
White tea is often being sold as Silvery Tip Pekoe, a form of its traditional name, and now also under the simple designations China White and Fujian White.
“White tea comes from the buds and leaves of the Chinese (tea) plant. The leaves and buds are allowed to wither in natural sunlight before they are lightly processed to prevent oxidation or further tea processing.
“The name “white tea” derives from the fine silvery-white hairs on the unopened buds of the tea plant, which gives the plant a whitish appearance. The beverage itself is not white or colourless but pale yellow.
“White tea contains high levels of catechins, some of which reduce the occurrence of atherosclerotic plaques and the severity of strokes, and prevent cancer in non-human studies.
“A group of flavonoids called catechins is responsible for the majority of flavonoids in growing tea leaves.
“According to a report released by USDA, in a 200-ml cup of tea, the mean total content of flavonoids is 266.68 mg for green tea, and 233.12 mg for black tea. White has higher levels than green, but was not measured by the USDA.”
Yes, the white tea is reputed to have more catechins than green tea (similar to the potency of active ingredients in broccoli sprouts vs mature broccoli etc.) but the practical question is whether it would yield more of the same strength GTP extract than the same amount of green tea... and/or at the same cost for a “normalized strength” extract.
If the answer is yes, then white tea may become a better source of .
While polyphenols include non-flavonoids as well as flavonoids, it seems that GTP responsible for cancer apoptosis is a specific flavonoid - epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCg).