Rooibos

The plant has long been used by the local population of South Africa to make herbal tea . Hottentots , the natives of those places, were the first to collect its leaves, similar to needles, but giving a very pleasant aromatic and healing infusion when brewing. Dutch settlers learned about the drink from them in the 18th century, and in the 19th century the British lived in Cape Town . Rooibos has become what tea , coffee , mate , a daily tonic soft drink, are in other regions. It is considered not only pleasant, but also very useful, giving energy, strengthening health. As an analogue, South Africans also brew Hanibush .

Of the Europeans, the Dutch first became acquainted with rooibos in the 18th century, later it became known in almost all parts of the world. The spread of rooibos in Europe began in the early years of the 20th century ^[2] . Currently, Aspalathus linearis is grown in South Africa on an industrial scale. The entire Soderberg Valley is occupied by plantations of this plant. Annual production is about 12,000 tons, of which 6,000 tons are exported. Half of the exported volume is consumed by Germany ^[3] . Attempts have been made to cultivate linear aspalatus in South America and Australia, but they have not been successful.

Bushes 1.5 years old go into production. Thin branches are cut from the bushes, they are chopped at the factory, after which fermentation is carried out (similar to tea production) - the raw materials are laid out on a horizontal surface, watered with water and left for several hours under the sun. After fermentation, quick drying is carried out (vacuum drying units are now used), sorting, pasteurization , packing. Rooibos is packaged in the same way as tea - either in bulk in bags and boxes, or in disposable tea bags. Most large tea trading companies offer in their product line several options for rooibos, in various packaging, flavored, as part of various tea-like mixtures.

Brewing

Rooibos is brewed in an ordinary teapot (porcelain, earthenware, clay). The process of brewing rooibos is very simple - you need to pour boiling water on it and let stand for at least five minutes. It is sometimes recommended to place the kettle in a hot oven for better extraction at the time of insisting, so that it does not cool down or even continues to boil - unlike regular tea, rooibos normally tolerates boiling. To boil rooibos, it is advisable to use heat-resistant glass teapots heated on an electric stove or gas - through a divider.

The dosage of dry rooibos approximately corresponds to the dosage of black tea - one or two teaspoons per cup. The Ч teas ’of rooibos are very dense, the extraction process of the substances contained in them is quite lengthy, therefore rooibos can be brewed several times, and with repeated brewing, the drink is almost as saturated as the first.

Rooibos Espresso

The South American Pretorius invented an original way of making rooibos - in an espresso coffee machine. He managed to get an “espresso from rooibos” - a drink that looks like espresso with a “cap” of foam, very strong (the strength increases due to the fact that rooibos is ground during preparation, which gives a much better extraction), brick red with saffron tint. To get it, Pretorius had to select a suitable high-quality rooibos variety for this. Pretorius patented his invention, and later other developments of the “coffee” direction appeared - red cappuccino , red latte , red cappuccino with ice.

Rooibos is caffeine free and has a low level of tannins (less than 5%) and a relatively high level of vitamin C (approximately 9.4%). ^{[4] [5]}

Studies in Japan have established a high ability to suppress the activity of certain strong mutagens in mice. ^[6]

In addition, the protective properties of red shrubs against damage to the central nervous system in certain areas of the brain have been demonstrated. ^[7]

Flavonoids contained in tea exhibit antioxidant properties both in vitro and in vivo . Thus, the radioprotective effect of tea from rooibos can be explained by the mechanism of protecting the body from free radicals. ^[eight]

At the same time, there are no significant active compounds in the leaves, with the exception of fluorine and copper ^[9] . In particular, one cup of rooibos (3 g of dry tea leaves) contains:

• 0.07 mg of iron;
• 1.67 mg of magnesium;
• 0.22 mg fluoride;
• 0.04 mg manganese;
• 7.12 mg potassium;
• 6.16 mg sodium;
• 1.09 mg calcium;
• 0.04 mg of zinc;
• 0.07 mg copper

Rooibos quenches thirst and tones well. Since, unlike tea and coffee, rooibos does not contain caffeine , it can be used as a full or partial replacement of these drinks by people who for some reason are contraindicated in caffeine. For the same reason, rooibos can be used without restrictions by young children. The presence of glucose in rooibos makes its taste sweet without the use of sugar or sweeteners.

Rooibos is also widely used in African countries to relieve colic in newborns.