1.
Tea
–
Tea is an aromatic beverage commonly prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub native to Asia. After water, it is the most widely consumed drink in the world, Tea originated in Southwest China, where it was used as a medicinal drink. It was popularized as a drink during the Chinese Tang dynasty. Portuguese priests and merchants introduced it to Europe during the 16th century, during the 17th century, drinking tea became fashionable among Britons, who started large-scale production and commercialization of the plant in India to bypass the Chinese monopoly. The term herbal tea usually refers to infusions of fruit or herbs made without the tea plant, such as steeps of rosehip, chamomile and these are sometimes called tisanes or herbal infusions to prevent confusion with tea made from the tea plant. The tea industry often uses the term fruit tea to refer to what are in fact fruit-flavored black teas. The Chinese character for tea is 茶, originally written with a stroke as 荼. The word is pronounced differently in the different varieties of Chinese, such as chá in Mandarin, zo and dzo in Wu Chinese, there were other ancient words for tea, though ming is the only other one still in common use. Most Chinese languages, such as Mandarin and Cantonese, pronounce it along the lines of cha and these two pronunciations have made their separate ways into other languages around the world. Starting in the seventeen century, the Dutch played a dominant role in the early European tea trade via the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch borrowed the word for tea from Min Chinese, either through trade directly from Fujian or Formosa where they had established a port, or from Malay traders in Bantam, Java. The Dutch then introduced to other European languages this Min pronunciation for tea, including English tea, French thé, Spanish té and this pronunciation is also the most common form worldwide. The Portuguese adopted the Cantonese pronunciation chá, and spread it to India, the Korean and Japanese pronunciations of cha were borrowed into Korean and Japanese during earlier periods of Chinese history. A third form, the increasingly widespread chai, came from Persian چای chay, both the châ and chây forms are found in Persian dictionaries. English has all three forms, cha or char, attested from the 16th century, tea, from the 17th, however, the form chai refers specifically to a black tea mixed with honey, spices and milk in contemporary English. Tea plants are native to East Asia, and probably originated around the points of the lands of north Burma. Tea drinking may have begun in the Yunnan region during the Shang Dynasty in China, Chinese legends attribute the invention of tea to Shennong in 2737 BC, although evidence suggests that tea drinking may have been introduced from the southwest of China. The earliest written records of tea come from China, in the Chronicles of Huayang, it was recorded that the Ba people in Sichuan presented tu to the Zhou king
2.
China
–
China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
3.
East Asia
–
East Asia is the eastern subregion of the Asian continent, which can be defined in either geographical or ethno-cultural terms. Geographically and geopolitically, it includes China, Taiwan, Mongolia, Korea and Japan, it covers about 12,000,000 km2, or about 28% of the Asian continent, the East Asian people comprise more than 1.5 billion people. About 38% of the population of Asia and 22%, or over one fifth, the overall population density of the region is 133 inhabitants per square kilometre, about three times the world average of 45/km2. Historically, societies in East Asia have been part of the Chinese cultural sphere, major religions include Buddhism, Confucianism or Neo-Confucianism, Taoism, Chinese folk religion in China and Taiwan, Shinto in Japan, Korean shamanism in Korea. Shamanism is also prevalent among Mongolians and other populations of northern East Asia. The Chinese calendar is the root from which many other East Asian calendars are derived, Chinese Dynasties dominated the region in matters of culture, trade, and exploration as well as militarily for a very long time. There are records of tributes sent overseas from the kingdoms of Korea. There were also considerable levels of cultural and religious exchange between the Chinese and other regional Dynasties and Kingdoms, as connections began to strengthen with the Western world, Chinas power began to diminish. Around the same time, Japan solidified itself as a nation state, throughout World War II, Korea, Taiwan, much of eastern China, Hong Kong, and Vietnam all fell under Japanese control. Culturally, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam are commonly seen as being encompassed by cultural East Asia, there are mixed debates around the world whether these countries or regions should be considered in East Asia or not. Vietnam Siberia in Russia Sovereignty issues exist over some territories in the South China Sea, however, in this context, the term Far East is often more appropriate which covers ASEAN countries and the countries in East Asia. However, being a Eurocentric term, Far East describes the geographical position in relation to Europe rather than its location within Asia. Alternatively, the term Asia Pacific Region is often used in describing East Asia and this usage, which is seen in economic and diplomatic discussions, is at odds with the historical meanings of both East Asia and Northeast Asia. The Council on Foreign Relations defines Northeast Asia as Japan and Korea, the military and economic superpower of China became the largest economy in the world in 2014, surpassing the United States of America. Currently in East Asia, trading systems are open, and zero or low duties on imports of consumer and capital goods etc. have considerably helped stimulate cost-efficiency. Free and flexible labor and other markets are important factors making for high levels of business-economic performance. East Asian populations have demonstrated highly positive work ethics, there are relatively large and fast-growing markets for consumer goods and services of all kinds. The culture of East Asia has been influenced by the civilisation of China, East Asia, as well as Vietnam, share a Confucian ethical philosophy, Buddhism, political and legal structures, and historically a common writing system
4.
Camellia sinensis
–
Camellia sinensis is a species of evergreen shrub or small tree whose leaves and leaf buds are used to produce tea. It is of the genus Camellia of flowering plants in the family Theaceae, common names include tea plant, tea shrub, and tea tree. Two major varieties are grown, Camellia sinensis var. sinensis for Chinese teas, white tea, yellow tea, green tea, oolong, pu-erh tea and black tea are all harvested from one or the other, but are processed differently to attain varying levels of oxidation. Kukicha is also harvested from Camellia sinensis, but uses twigs, the name Camellia is taken from the Latinized name of Rev. Georg Kamel, SJ, a Moravian-born Jesuit lay brother, pharmacist, and missionary to the Philippines. Carl Linnaeus chose his name in 1753 for the genus to honor Kamels contributions to botany, robert Sweet shifted all formerly Thea species to the Camellia genus in 1818. The name sinensis means from China in Latin, four varieties of Camellia sinensis are recognized. Camellia sinensis is a shrub or small tree that is usually trimmed to below 2 m when cultivated for its leaves. The flowers are yellow-white,2. 5–4 cm in diameter, the leaves are 4–15 cm long and 2–5 cm broad. Fresh leaves contain about 4% caffeine, as well as related compounds including theobromine, the young, light green leaves are preferably harvested for tea production, they have short white hairs on the underside. Different leaf ages produce differing tea qualities, since their chemical compositions are different, usually, the tip and the first two to three leaves are harvested for processing. This hand picking is repeated every one to two weeks, Camellia sinensis is mainly cultivated in tropical and subtropical climates, in areas with at least 127 cm. of rainfall a year. Tea plants prefer a rich and moist growing location in full to part sun, however, the clonal one is commercially cultivated from the equator to as far north as Cornwall and Scotland on the UK mainland. Many high quality teas are grown at high elevations, up to 1,500 meters, as the plants grow more slowly, tea plants will grow into a tree if left undisturbed, but cultivated plants are pruned to waist height for ease of plucking. Two principal varieties are used, the small-leaved Chinese variety plant, the Chinese plant is a small-leafed bush with multiple stems that reaches a height of some 3 meters. It is native to southeast China, the first tea plant to be discovered, recorded and used to produce tea three thousand years ago, it yields some of the most popular teas. C. sinensis var. waldenae was considered a different species, Camellia waldenae by SY Hu and this variety is commonly called Waldenae Camellia. It is seen on Sunset Peak and Tai Mo Shan in Hong Kong and it is also distributed in Guangxi province, China. Three main kinds of tea are produced in India, Assam comes from the section of the country
5.
Traditional Chinese characters
–
Traditional Chinese characters are Chinese characters in any character set that does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. They are most commonly the characters in the character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong. Currently, a number of overseas Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between both sets. In contrast, simplified Chinese characters are used in mainland China, Singapore, the debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters has been a long-running issue among Chinese communities. Although simplified characters are taught and endorsed by the government of Mainland China, Traditional characters are used informally in regions in China primarily in handwriting and also used for inscriptions and religious text. They are often retained in logos or graphics to evoke yesteryear, nonetheless, the vast majority of media and communications in China is dominated by simplified characters. Taiwan has never adopted Simplified Chinese characters since it is ruled by the Republic of China, the use of simplified characters in official documents is even prohibited by the government in Taiwan. Simplified characters are not well understood in general, although some stroke simplifications that have incorporated into Simplified Chinese are in common use in handwriting. For example, while the name of Taiwan is written as 臺灣, similarly, in Hong Kong and Macau, Traditional Chinese has been the legal written form since colonial times. In recent years, because of the influx of mainland Chinese tourists, today, even government websites use simplified Chinese, as they answer to the Beijing government. This has led to concerns by residents to protect their local heritage. In Southeast Asia, the Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative regarding simplification, while major public universities are teaching simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications like the Chinese Commercial News, World News, and United Daily News still use traditional characters, on the other hand, the Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified. Aside from local newspapers, magazines from Hong Kong, such as the Yazhou Zhoukan, are found in some bookstores. In case of film or television subtitles on DVD, the Chinese dub that is used in Philippines is the same as the one used in Taiwan and this is because the DVDs belongs to DVD Region Code 3. Hence, most of the subtitles are in Traditional Characters, overseas Chinese in the United States have long used traditional characters. A major influx of Chinese immigrants to the United States occurred during the half of the 19th century. Therefore, the majority of Chinese language signage in the United States, including street signs, Traditional Chinese characters are called several different names within the Chinese-speaking world
6.
Simplified Chinese characters
–
Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters prescribed in the Table of General Standard Chinese Characters for use in mainland China. Along with traditional Chinese characters, it is one of the two character sets of the contemporary Chinese written language. The government of the Peoples Republic of China in mainland China has promoted them for use in printing since the 1950s and 1960s in an attempt to increase literacy and they are officially used in the Peoples Republic of China and Singapore. Traditional Chinese characters are used in Hong Kong, Macau. Overseas Chinese communities generally tend to use traditional characters, Simplified Chinese characters may be referred to by their official name above or colloquially. Strictly, the latter refers to simplifications of character structure or body, character forms that have existed for thousands of years alongside regular, Simplified character forms were created by decreasing the number of strokes and simplifying the forms of a sizable proportion of traditional Chinese characters. Some simplifications were based on popular cursive forms embodying graphic or phonetic simplifications of the traditional forms, some characters were simplified by applying regular rules, for example, by replacing all occurrences of a certain component with a simplified version of the component. Variant characters with the pronunciation and identical meaning were reduced to a single standardized character. Finally, many characters were left untouched by simplification, and are identical between the traditional and simplified Chinese orthographies. Some simplified characters are very dissimilar to and unpredictably different from traditional characters and this often leads opponents not well-versed in the method of simplification to conclude that the overall process of character simplification is also arbitrary. In reality, the methods and rules of simplification are few, on the other hand, proponents of simplification often flaunt a few choice simplified characters as ingenious inventions, when in fact these have existed for hundreds of years as ancient variants. However, the Chinese government never officially dropped its goal of further simplification in the future, in August 2009, the PRC began collecting public comments for a modified list of simplified characters. The new Table of General Standard Chinese Characters consisting of 8,105 characters was promulgated by the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China on June 5,2013, cursive written text almost always includes character simplification. Simplified forms used in print have always existed, they date back to as early as the Qin dynasty, One of the earliest proponents of character simplification was Lubi Kui, who proposed in 1909 that simplified characters should be used in education. In the years following the May Fourth Movement in 1919, many anti-imperialist Chinese intellectuals sought ways to modernise China, Traditional culture and values such as Confucianism were challenged. Soon, people in the Movement started to cite the traditional Chinese writing system as an obstacle in modernising China and it was suggested that the Chinese writing system should be either simplified or completely abolished. Fu Sinian, a leader of the May Fourth Movement, called Chinese characters the writing of ox-demons, lu Xun, a renowned Chinese author in the 20th century, stated that, If Chinese characters are not destroyed, then China will die. Recent commentators have claimed that Chinese characters were blamed for the problems in China during that time
7.
Standard Chinese
–
Its pronunciation is based on the Beijing dialect, its vocabulary on the Mandarin dialects, and its grammar is based on written vernacular Chinese. Like other varieties of Chinese, Standard Chinese is a language with topic-prominent organization. It has more initial consonants but fewer vowels, final consonants, Standard Chinese is an analytic language, though with many compound words. There exist two standardised forms of the language, namely Putonghua in Mainland China and Guoyu in Taiwan, aside from a number of differences in pronunciation and vocabulary, Putonghua is written using simplified Chinese characters, while Guoyu is written using traditional Chinese characters. There are many characters that are identical between the two systems, in English, the governments of China and Hong Kong use Putonghua, Putonghua Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, and Mandarin, while those of Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, use Mandarin. The name Putonghua also has a long, albeit unofficial, history and it was used as early as 1906 in writings by Zhu Wenxiong to differentiate a modern, standard Chinese from classical Chinese and other varieties of Chinese. For some linguists of the early 20th century, the Putonghua, or common tongue/speech, was different from the Guoyu. The former was a prestige variety, while the latter was the legal standard. Based on common understandings of the time, the two were, in fact, different, Guoyu was understood as formal vernacular Chinese, which is close to classical Chinese. By contrast, Putonghua was called the speech of the modern man. The use of the term Putonghua by left-leaning intellectuals such as Qu Qiubai, prior to this, the government used both terms interchangeably. In Taiwan, Guoyu continues to be the term for Standard Chinese. The term Putonghua, on the contrary, implies nothing more than the notion of a lingua franca, Huayu, or language of the Chinese nation, originally simply meant Chinese language, and was used in overseas communities to contrast Chinese with foreign languages. Over time, the desire to standardise the variety of Chinese spoken in these communities led to the adoption of the name Huayu to refer to Mandarin and it also incorporates the notion that Mandarin is usually not the national or common language of the areas in which overseas Chinese live. The term Mandarin is a translation of Guānhuà, which referred to the lingua franca of the late Chinese empire, in English, Mandarin may refer to the standard language, the dialect group as a whole, or to historic forms such as the late Imperial lingua franca. The name Modern Standard Mandarin is sometimes used by linguists who wish to distinguish the current state of the language from other northern. Chinese has long had considerable variation, hence prestige dialects have always existed. Confucius, for example, used yǎyán rather than colloquial regional dialects, rime books, which were written since the Northern and Southern dynasties, may also have reflected one or more systems of standard pronunciation during those times
8.
Pinyin
–
Pinyin, or Hànyǔ Pīnyīn, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is often used to teach Standard Chinese, which is written using Chinese characters. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones, Pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written with the Latin alphabet, and also in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters. The pinyin system was developed in the 1950s by many linguists, including Zhou Youguang and it was published by the Chinese government in 1958 and revised several times. The International Organization for Standardization adopted pinyin as a standard in 1982. The system was adopted as the standard in Taiwan in 2009. The word Hànyǔ means the language of the Han people. In 1605, the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci published Xizi Qiji in Beijing and this was the first book to use the Roman alphabet to write the Chinese language. Twenty years later, another Jesuit in China, Nicolas Trigault, neither book had much immediate impact on the way in which Chinese thought about their writing system, and the romanizations they described were intended more for Westerners than for the Chinese. One of the earliest Chinese thinkers to relate Western alphabets to Chinese was late Ming to early Qing Dynasty scholar-official, the first late Qing reformer to propose that China adopt a system of spelling was Song Shu. A student of the great scholars Yu Yue and Zhang Taiyan, Song had been to Japan and observed the effect of the kana syllabaries. This galvanized him into activity on a number of fronts, one of the most important being reform of the script, while Song did not himself actually create a system for spelling Sinitic languages, his discussion proved fertile and led to a proliferation of schemes for phonetic scripts. The Wade–Giles system was produced by Thomas Wade in 1859, and it was popular and used in English-language publications outside China until 1979. This Sin Wenz or New Writing was much more sophisticated than earlier alphabets. In 1940, several members attended a Border Region Sin Wenz Society convention. Mao Zedong and Zhu De, head of the army, both contributed their calligraphy for the masthead of the Sin Wenz Societys new journal. Outside the CCP, other prominent supporters included Sun Yat-sens son, Sun Fo, Cai Yuanpei, the countrys most prestigious educator, Tao Xingzhi, an educational reformer. Over thirty journals soon appeared written in Sin Wenz, plus large numbers of translations, biographies, some contemporary Chinese literature, and a spectrum of textbooks
9.
Cantonese
–
Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a variety of Chinese spoken in the city of Guangzhou in southeastern China. It is the prestige variety of Yue, one of the major subdivisions of Chinese. In mainland China, it is the lingua franca of the province of Guangdong and some neighbouring areas such as Guangxi. In Hong Kong and Macau, Cantonese serves as one of their official languages and it is also spoken amongst overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia and throughout the Western World. When Cantonese and the closely related Yuehai dialects are classified together, Cantonese is viewed as vital part of the cultural identity for its native speakers across large swathes of southeastern China, Hong Kong and Macau. Although Cantonese shares some vocabulary with Mandarin, the two varieties are mutually unintelligible because of differences in pronunciation, grammar and lexicon, sentence structure, in particular the placement of verbs, sometimes differs between the two varieties. This results in the situation in which a Cantonese and a Mandarin text may look similar, in English, the term Cantonese is ambiguous. Cantonese proper is the variety native to the city of Canton and this narrow sense may be specified as Canton language or Guangzhou language in English. However, Cantonese may also refer to the branch of Cantonese that contains Cantonese proper as well as Taishanese and Gaoyang. In this article, Cantonese is used for Cantonese proper, historically, speakers called this variety Canton speech or Guangzhou speech, although this term is now seldom used outside mainland China. In Guangdong province, people call it provincial capital speech or plain speech. In Hong Kong and Macau, as well as among overseas Chinese communities, in mainland China, the term Guangdong speech is also increasingly being used among both native and non-native speakers. Due to its status as a prestige dialect among all the dialects of the Cantonese or Yue branch of Chinese varieties, the official languages of Hong Kong are Chinese and English, as defined in the Hong Kong Basic Law. The Chinese language has different varieties, of which Cantonese is one. Given the traditional predominance of Cantonese within Hong Kong, it is the de facto official spoken form of the Chinese language used in the Hong Kong Government and all courts and it is also used as the medium of instruction in schools, alongside English. A similar situation exists in neighboring Macau, where Chinese is an official language along with Portuguese. As in Hong Kong, Cantonese is the predominant spoken variety of Chinese used in life and is thus the official form of Chinese used in the government. The variant spoken in Hong Kong and Macau is known as Hong Kong Cantonese, Cantonese first developed around the port city of Guangzhou in the Pearl River Delta region of southeastern China
10.
Jyutping
–
Jyutping is a romanisation system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong, an academic group, in 1993. Its formal name is The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanisation Scheme, the LSHK promotes the use of this romanisation system. The name Jyutping is a contraction consisting of the first Chinese characters of the terms Jyut6jyu5, only the finals m and ng can be used as standalone nasal syllables. ^ ^ ^ Referring to the pronunciation of these words. There are nine tones in six distinct tone contours in Cantonese, however, as three of the nine are entering tones, which only appear in syllables ending with p, t, and k, they do not have separate tone numbers in Jyutping. Jyutping and the Yale Romanisation of Cantonese represent Cantonese pronunciations with the letters in, The initials, b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, ng, h, s, gw, kw. The vowel, aa, a, e, i, o, u, the coda, i, u, m, n, ng, p, t, k. But they differ in the following, The vowels eo and oe represent /ɵ/ and /œː/ respectively in Jyutping, the initial j represents /j/ in Jyutping whereas y is used instead in Yale. The initial z represents /ts/ in Jyutping whereas j is used instead in Yale, the initial c represents /tsʰ/ in Jyutping whereas ch is used instead in Yale. In Jyutping, if no consonant precedes the vowel yu, then the initial j is appended before the vowel, in Yale, the corresponding initial y is never appended before yu under any circumstances. Jyutping defines three finals not in Yale, eu /ɛːu/, em /ɛːm/, and ep /ɛːp/ and these three finals are used in colloquial Cantonese words, such as deu6, lem2, and gep6. To represent tones, only tone numbers are used in Jyutping whereas Yale traditionally uses tone marks together with the letter h. Jyutping and Cantonese Pinyin represent Cantonese pronunciations with the letters in, The initials, b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, ng, h, s, gw, kw. The vowel, aa, a, e, i, o, u, the coda, i, u, m, n, ng, p, t, k. But they have differences, The vowel oe represents both /ɵ/ and /œː/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas eo and oe represent /ɵ/ and /œː/ respectively in Jyutping. The vowel y represents /y/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas both yu and i are used in Jyutping, the initial dz represents /ts/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas z is used instead in Jyutping. The initial ts represents /tsʰ/ in Cantonese Pinyin whereas c is used instead in Jyutping. To represent tones, the numbers 1 to 9 are usually used in Cantonese Pinyin, however, only the numbers 1 to 6 are used in Jyutping
11.
Southern Min
–
Southern Min, or Minnan, is a branch of Min Chinese spoken in certain parts of China including southern Fujian, eastern Guangdong, Hainan, and southern Zhejiang, and in Taiwan. The Min Nan dialects are spoken by descendants of emigrants from these areas in diaspora, most notably the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia. In common parlance, Southern Min usually refers to Hokkien, including Amoy and Taiwanese Hokkien, the Southern Min dialect group also includes Teochew, though Teochew has limited mutual intelligibility with Hokkien. Hainanese is not mutually intellgible with other Southern Min and is considered a separate branch of Min. Southern Min is not mutually intelligible with Eastern Min, Pu-Xian Min, any other Min branch, Hakka, Cantonese, Shanghainese or Mandarin. Southern Min dialects are spoken in the part of Fujian. The variant spoken in Leizhou, Guangdong as well as Hainan is Hainanese and is not mutually intelligible with other Southern Min or Teochew, Hainanese is classified in some schemes as part of Southern Min and in other schemes as separate. Puxian Min was originally based on the Quanzhou dialect, but over time became heavily influenced by Eastern Min, eventually losing intellegility with Minnan. A forms of Southern Min spoken in Taiwan, collectively known as Taiwanese, Southern Min is a first language for most of the Hoklo people, the main ethnicity of Taiwan. The correspondence between language and ethnicity is not absolute, as some Hoklo have very limited proficiency in Southern Min while some non-Hoklo speak Southern Min fluently, there are many Southern Min speakers also among Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. Many ethnic Chinese immigrants to the region were Hoklo from southern Fujian and brought the language to what is now Burma, Indonesia and present-day Malaysia and Singapore. In general, Southern Min from southern Fujian is known as Hokkien, Hokkienese, many Southeast Asian ethnic Chinese also originated in the Chaoshan region of Guangdong and speak Teochew language, the variant of Southern Min from that region. Southern Min-speakers form the majority of Chinese in Singapore, with the largest group being Hokkien, despite the similarities the two groups are rarely seen as part of the same Minnan Chinese subgroups. The variants of Southern Min spoken in Zhejiang province are most akin to that spoken in Quanzhou, the variants spoken in Taiwan are similar to the three Fujian variants and are collectively known as Taiwanese. Those Southern Min variants that are known as Hokkien in Southeast Asia also originate from these variants. The variants of Southern Min in the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong province are known as Teochew or Chaozhou. Teochew is of importance in the Southeast Asian Chinese diaspora, particularly in Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Sumatra. The Philippines variant is mostly from the Quanzhou area as most of their forefathers are from the aforementioned area, the Southern Min language variant spoken around Shanwei and Haifeng differs markedly from Teochew and may represent a later migration from Zhangzhou
12.
Taiwanese Romanization System
–
The Taiwanese Romanization System is a transcription system for Taiwanese Hokkien. It is derived from Pe̍h-ōe-jī and since 2006 has been promoted by Taiwans Ministry of Education. It is nearly identical to Taiwanese Language Phonetic Alphabet Romanization for Hakka apart from using ts tsh j instead of c ch j for the fricatives /ts tsʰ dz/, Taiwanese Romanization System uses 16 basic Latin letters,7 digraphs and a trigraph. In addition, it uses 6 diacritics to represent tones, nn is only used after a vowel to express nasalization, so it has no capital letter. Palatalization occurs when J, S, Ts, Tsh followed by i, so Ji, Si, Tsi, of the 10 unused basic Latin letters, R is sometimes used to express dialectal vowels, while the others are only used in loanwords. O pronounced ㄜ in general dialect in Kaohsiung and Tainan, ㄛ in Taipei, -nn forms the nasal vowels There is also syllabic m and ng. ing pronounced, ik pronounced. A hyphen links elements of a compound word, a double hyphen indicates that the following syllable has a neutral tone and therefore that the preceding syllable does not undergo tone sandhi. 臺灣閩南語羅馬拼音及其發音學習網, Taiwanese Romanization System learning site by Ministry of Education, Taiwan
13.
Tea processing
–
Tea processing is the method in which the leaves from the tea plant Camellia sinensis are transformed into the dried leaves for brewing tea. The categories of tea are distinguished by the processing they undergo, in its most general form, tea processing involves different manners and degree of oxidation of the leaves, stopping the oxidation, forming the tea and drying it. After processing, a tea may be blended with other teas or mixed with flavourants to alter the flavour of the final tea. The history of the tea processing corresponds intimately with the role that tea played in Chinese society, leaf teas are processed either by roasting or steaming. Roasted tea are also called pan-fried tea, generally, roasted varieties are richer in flavor, while steamed varieties are more vivid in color. The ancient Chinese society first encountered the tea plant in what is now southern China and this processing method was perfected near the end of the Han Dynasty and produced a dried tea that would be classified today as green tea and quite similar to modern Japanese sencha. For consumption, dried tea leaves were either decocted with water around with other herbs, with the increase of teas use in Chinese herbology, production methods changed, where the processed green tea leaves were not immediately dried after steaming. Tender leaves and leaf buds were generally not used, as older mature tea leaves were preferred for tea production, some tea bricks were also produced from mature whole leaves, which typically required the use of a cooked rice slurry to bind the tea brick together. The preference of producing tea in brick form possibly stems from the fact that it can be easily transported and stored. This use of steam in fixation for tea leaf enzymes is an important step in processing tea, with the leaves to be cooled down. Although green tea was the most popular in Lu Yus time, even when the leaves were quickly cooled, if they are left in piles for too long before processing, the leaves will begin to undergo microbial fermentation to produce post-fermented tea. The production of tea in brick forms and their storage also resulted in type of post-fermented tea. By the end of Tang Dynasty green, yellow, and post-fermented tea was used in China. The Tang Dynasty was also the period when tea was first developed in the Fujian province. It was originally produced in thin brick form, known then under the name Beiyuan tea, the production method of white tea was described by Ming Dynasty author Tian Yiheng in Zhuquan Xiaopin regarding Fuding white tea. By the Qing Dynasty, both lapsang souchong and gongfu black tea were well recognized in China and noted in Records on Yiwu mountain by the scholar Dong Tiangong. Although each type of tea has different taste, smell, and visual appearance, without careful moisture and temperature control during its manufacture and life thereafter, fungi will grow on tea. This form of fungus causes real fermentation that will contaminate the tea, autumn or winter pickings of tea flushes are much less common, though they occur when climate permits
14.
Black tea
–
Black tea is a type of tea that is more oxidized than oolong, green and white teas. Black tea is stronger in flavor than the less oxidized teas. All four types are made from leaves of the shrub Camellia sinensis, while green tea usually loses its flavor within a year, black tea retains its flavour for several years. For this reason, it has long been an article of trade, although green tea has recently seen a revival due to its purported health benefits, black tea still accounts for over ninety percent of all tea sold in the West. Generally, unblended black teas are named after the region in which they are produced, often, different regions are known for producing teas with characteristic flavors. Black tea is blended and mixed with various other plants in order to obtain a beverage. After the harvest, the leaves are first withered by blowing air on them, then black teas are processed in either of two ways, CTC or orthodox. The CTC method produces leaves of fannings or dust grades that are used in tea bags but also produces higher grades such as BOP CTC. This method is efficient and effective for producing a quality product from medium. Orthodox processing is done either by machines or by hand, hand processing is used for high quality teas. While the methods employed in orthodox processing differ by tea type, the tea leaves are allowed to completely oxidize. Orthodox, The withered tea leaves are heavily rolled either by hand or mechanically through the use of a cylindrical rolling table or a rotovane. The rolling table consists of a ridged table-top moving in a manner to a large hopper of tea leaves. The process produces a mixture of whole and broken leaves, and particles which are sorted, oxidized. The rotorvane, created by Ian McTear in 1957 can be used to replicate the orthodox process, the rotorvane can consistently duplicate broken orthodox processed black tea of even sized broken leaves, however it cannot produce whole leaf black tea. The broken leaves and particles from the method can feed into the CTC method for further processing into fanning or dust grade teas. CTC, Cut, tear, curl or Crush, tear and it is considered by some as a significantly improved method of producing black tea to the orthodox through the mincing of withered tea leaves. Next, the leaves are oxidized under controlled temperature and humidity, the level of oxidation determines the type of the tea, with fully oxidised becoming black tea, low oxidised becoming green tea, and partially oxidised making up the various levels of oolong tea. This can be done on the floor in batches or on a bed with air flow for proper oxidation
15.
Asia
–
Asia covers an area of 44,579,000 square kilometres, about 30% of Earths total land area and 8. 7% of the Earths total surface area. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the population, was the site of many of the first civilizations. Asia is notable for not only its large size and population. In general terms, Asia is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean, the western boundary with Europe is a historical and cultural construct, as there is no clear physical and geographical separation between them. The most commonly accepted boundaries place Asia to the east of the Suez Canal, the Ural River, and the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains, China and India alternated in being the largest economies in the world from 1 to 1800 A. D. The accidental discovery of America by Columbus in search for India demonstrates this deep fascination, the Silk Road became the main East-West trading route in the Asian hitherland while the Straits of Malacca stood as a major sea route. Asia has exhibited economic dynamism as well as robust population growth during the 20th century, given its size and diversity, the concept of Asia—a name dating back to classical antiquity—may actually have more to do with human geography than physical geography. Asia varies greatly across and within its regions with regard to ethnic groups, cultures, environments, economics, historical ties, the boundary between Asia and Africa is the Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez, and the Suez Canal. This makes Egypt a transcontinental country, with the Sinai peninsula in Asia, the border between Asia and Europe was historically defined by European academics. In Sweden, five years after Peters death, in 1730 Philip Johan von Strahlenberg published a new atlas proposing the Urals as the border of Asia, the Russians were enthusiastic about the concept, which allowed them to keep their European identity in geography. Tatishchev announced that he had proposed the idea to von Strahlenberg, the latter had suggested the Emba River as the lower boundary. Over the next century various proposals were made until the Ural River prevailed in the mid-19th century, the border had been moved perforce from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea into which the Ural River projects. The border between the Black Sea and the Caspian is usually placed along the crest of the Caucasus Mountains, the border between Asia and the loosely defined region of Oceania is usually placed somewhere in the Malay Archipelago. The terms Southeast Asia and Oceania, devised in the 19th century, have had several different geographic meanings since their inception. The chief factor in determining which islands of the Malay Archipelago are Asian has been the location of the possessions of the various empires there. Lewis and Wigen assert, The narrowing of Southeast Asia to its present boundaries was thus a gradual process, Asia is larger and more culturally diverse than Europe. It does not exactly correspond to the borders of its various types of constituents. From the time of Herodotus a minority of geographers have rejected the three-continent system on the grounds there is no or is no substantial physical separation between them
16.
Azores
–
Its main industries are agriculture, dairy farming, livestock, fishing, and tourism, which is becoming the major service activity in the region. In addition, the government of the Azores employs a large percentage of the population directly or indirectly in the service, the main settlement of the Azores is Ponta Delgada. There are nine major Azorean islands and a cluster, in three main groups. These are Flores and Corvo, to the west, Graciosa, Terceira, São Jorge, Pico, and Faial in the centre, and São Miguel, Santa Maria, and they extend for more than 600 km and lie in a northwest-southeast direction. All the islands have volcanic origins, although some, such as Santa Maria, have had no recorded activity since the islands were settled, mount Pico, on the island of Pico, is the highest point in Portugal, at 2,351 m. The Azores are actually some of the tallest mountains on the planet, measured from their base at the bottom of the ocean to their peaks, which thrust high above the surface of the Atlantic. The climate of the Azores is very mild for such a location, being influenced by its distance to continents. Due to the influence, temperatures remain mild year-round. Daytime temperatures normally fluctuate between 16 °C and 25 °C depending on season, temperatures above 30 °C or below 3 °C are unknown in the major population centres. It is also generally wet and cloudy, the culture, dialect, cuisine, and traditions of the Azorean islands vary considerably, because these once-uninhabited and remote islands were settled sporadically over a span of two centuries. However, these kinds of structures have always used in the Azores to store cereals. Detailed examination and dating to authenticate the validity of these speculations is lacking and it is unclear whether these structures are natural or man-made and whether they predate the 15th-century Portuguese colonization of the Azores. Solid confirmation of a human presence in the archipelago has not yet been published. The islands were known in the century and parts of them appear in the Atlas Catalan. In 1427, a captain sailing for Henry the Navigator, possibly Gonçalo Velho, rediscovered the Azores, but this is not certain. In Thomas Ashes 1813 work, A History of the Azores, the author identified a Fleming, Joshua Vander Berg of Bruges and he stated that the Portuguese explored the area and claimed it for Portugal. Other stories note the discovery of the first islands by sailors in the service of Henry the Navigator, although there are few documents to support the claims. Although it is said that the archipelago received its name from the goshawk
17.
Agriculture in Georgia (country)
–
Georgia’s climate and soil have made agriculture one of its most productive economic sectors, the 18 percent of Georgian land that is arable provided 32 percent of the republics NMP in 1990. Production was hindered in the Soviet period, however, by the misallocation of agricultural land such as the assignment of prime grain fields to tea cultivation, georgia’s emphasis on labor-intensive crops such as tea and grapes kept the rural work force at an unsatisfactory level of productivity. Some 25 percent of the Georgian work force was engaged in agriculture in 1990,37 percent had been so engaged in 1970. In the spring of 1993, sowing of spring crops was reduced by onethird on state land and by an amount on private land as well because of fuel. For the first half of 1993, overall production was 35 percent less than for the same period of 1992. As of 2011,281,000 hectares of land were sown, representing 35. 0% of the land,1,823,000 head of livestock were cataloged. 2012 preliminary data shows agri-business contribution as 8. 4% of GDP, in 1993 about 85 percent of cultivated land, excluding orchards, vineyards, and tea plantations, was dedicated to grains. Within that category, corn grew on 40 percent of the land, the second most important agricultural product is wine. Georgia has one of the worlds oldest and finest winemaking traditions, some forty major wineries were operating in 1990, and about 500 types of local wines are made. The center of the industry is Kakhetia in eastern Georgia. Georgia is also known for the quality of its mineral waters for example Borjomi. Other important crops are tea, citrus fruits, and noncitrus fruits, which account for 18.3 percent,7.7 percent, cultivation of tea and citrus fruit is confined to the western coastal area. Tea accounts for 36 percent of the output of the large food-processing industry, animal husbandry, mainly the keeping of cattle, pigs, and sheep, accounts for about 25 percent of Georgias agricultural output, although high density and low mechanization have hindered efficiency. Until 1992 other Soviet republics bought 95 percent of Georgias processed tea,62 percent of its wine, in turn, Georgia depended on Russia for 75 percent of its grain. One-third of Georgias meat and 60 percent of its products were supplied from outside the republic. Failure to adjust these relationships contributed to Georgias food crises in the early 1990s, when Georgia became independent after the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, the entire country was in total disarray facing a bitter civil war. Georgian agriculture collapsed, and the held by large collective farms was quickly distributed to rural households in an attempt to avoid famine. This desperate goal was achieved as Georgian agriculture quickly recovered in 1993-95, in 1990, according to official statistics, the private sector contributed 46% of gross agricultural output, and private productivity averaged about twice that of the state farms
18.
History of tea
–
The history of tea is long and complex, spreading across multiple cultures over the span of thousands of years. Tea likely originated in southwest China during the Shang dynasty as a medicinal drink, an early credible record of tea drinking dates to the 3rd century AD, in a medical text written by Hua Tuo. Tea was first introduced to Portuguese priests and merchants in China during the 16th century, drinking tea became popular in Britain during the 17th century. The British introduced tea production, as well as tea consumption, to India, the plant was introduced to more than 52 countries, from this ‘centre of origin’. Yunnan Province has also identified as the birthplace of tea…the first area where humans figured out that eating tea leaves or brewing a cup could be pleasant. Fengqing County in the Lincang City Prefecture of Yunnan Province in China is said to be home to the worlds oldest cultivated tea tree, according to The Story of Tea, tea drinking likely began in Yunnan province during the Shang Dynasty, as a medicinal drink. The emperor took a sip of the brew and was surprised by its flavor. A variant of the legend tells that the emperor tested the medical properties of herbs on himself, some of them poisonous. Shennong is also mentioned in Lu Yus famous early work on the subject, a similar Chinese legend goes that the god of agriculture would chew the leaves, stems, and roots of various plants to discover medicinal herbs. If he consumed a poisonous plant, he would chew tea leaves to counteract the poison, a rather gruesome legend dates back to the Tang Dynasty. In the legend, Bodhidharma, the founder of Chan Buddhism and he woke up in such disgust at his weakness that he cut off his own eyelids. They fell to the ground and took root, growing into tea bushes, sometimes, another version of the story is told with Gautama Buddha in place of Bodhidharma. Whether or not these legends have any basis in fact, tea has played a significant role in Asian culture for centuries as a beverage, a curative. It is not surprising, therefore, that theories of its origin are often religious or royal in nature, the Chinese have consumed tea for thousands of years. The samples were identified as tea from the genus Camellia particularly via mass spectrometry. people of the Han Dynasty used tea as medicine. China is considered to have the earliest records of tea consumption, note however that the current word for tea in Chinese only came into use in the 8th century AD, there are therefore uncertainties as to whether the older words used are the same as tea. In the Chronicles of Huayang, it was recorded that the Ba people in Sichuan presented tu to the Zhou king, the first record of cultivation of tea also dated it to this period when tea was cultivated on Meng Mountain near Chengdu. From the Tang to the Qing dynasties, the first 360 leaves of tea grown here were picked each spring, even today its green and yellow teas, such as the Mengding Ganlu tea, are still sought after
19.
Shennong
–
Shennong, also known as the Wugushen or also Wuguxiandi, is a deity in Chinese religion, a mythical sage ruler of prehistoric China. Shennong has at times been counted amongst the Three Sovereigns, a group of deities or deified kings said to have lived some 4,500 years ago. Shennong has been thought to have taught the ancient Chinese not only their practices of agriculture, Shennong can also be taken to refer to his people, the Shennong-shi. Since shì can mean both clan and surname and serve as a masculine honorific like mister or sir, it is used in reference to his people. The Han Chinese regarded them both as their joint ancestors, the sacrifice of cows or oxen to Shennong in his various manifestations is never at all appropriate, instead pigs and sheep are acceptable. Fireworks and incense may also be used, especially at the appearance of his statue on his birthday, lunar April 26, under his various names, Shennong is the patron deity especially of farmers, rice traders, and practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine. Many temples and other dedicated to his commemoration exist. However, Shennong, both the individual and the clan, are important, in the history of culture—especially in regards to mythology. Indeed, Shennong figures extensively in historical literature, sima Qian mentions that the rulers directly preceding the Yellow Emperor were of the house of Shennong. Sima Zhen, who added a prologue for the Shiji, said his surname was Jiang, Shennong also features in the book popularly known in English as I Ching. Here, he is referenced as coming to power after the end of the house of Paoxi, also inventing a bent-wood plow, a rake, teaching these skills to others. Another reference is in the Lüshi Chunqiu, mentioning some violence with regard to the rise of the Shennong house, the Shénnóng Běn Cǎo Jīng is a book on agriculture and medicinal plants, attributed to Shennong. Research suggests that it is a compilation of traditions, written between about 200 and 250 AD. As noted above, Shennong is said in the Huainanzi to have tasted hundreds of herbs to test their medical value and this work lists the various medicinal herbs, such as lingzhi, that were discovered by Shennong and given grade and rarity ratings. It is considered to be the earliest Chinese pharmacopoeia, and includes 365 medicines derived from minerals, plants, Shennong is credited with identifying hundreds of medical herbs by personally testing their properties, which was crucial to the development of traditional Chinese medicine. Legend holds that Shennong had a transparent body, and thus could see the effects of different plants, Tea, which acts as an antidote against the poisonous effects of some seventy herbs, is also said to have been his discovery. Shennong first tasted it, traditionally in ca.2437 BC, from tea leaves on burning tea twigs, after they were carried up from the fire by the hot air, Shennong is venerated as the Father of Chinese medicine. He is also believed to have introduced the technique of acupuncture, Shennong is said to have played a part in the creation of the guqin, together with Fuxi and the Yellow Emperor
20.
Tang dynasty
–
The Tang dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It is generally regarded as a point in Chinese civilization. Its territory, acquired through the campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of the Han dynasty. The dynasty was founded by the Lǐ family, who seized power during the decline, the dynasty was briefly interrupted when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Second Zhou dynasty and becoming the only Chinese empress regnant. In two censuses of the 7th and 8th centuries, the Tang records estimated the population by number of registered households at about 50 million people. Various kingdoms and states paid tribute to the Tang court, while the Tang also conquered or subdued several regions which it controlled through a protectorate system. Besides political hegemony, the Tang also exerted a powerful influence over neighboring states such as those in Korea, Japan. Like the previous Sui dynasty, the Tang dynasty maintained a service system by recruiting scholar-officials through standardized examinations and recommendations to office. This civil order was undermined by the rise of military governors known as jiedushi during the 9th century. Chinese culture flourished and further matured during the Tang era, it is considered the greatest age for Chinese poetry. Two of Chinas most famous poets, Li Bai and Du Fu, belonged to this age, as did many famous painters such as Han Gan, Zhang Xuan, there was a rich variety of historical literature compiled by scholars, as well as encyclopedias and geographical works. The adoption of the title Tängri Qaghan by the Tang Emperor Taizong in addition to his title as emperor was eastern Asias first simultaneous kingship, there were many notable innovations during the Tang, including the development of woodblock printing. Buddhism became an influence in Chinese culture, with native Chinese sects gaining prominence. However, Buddhism would later be persecuted by the state, subsequently declining in influence, although the dynasty and central government were in decline by the 9th century, art and culture continued to flourish. This family was known as the Longxi Li lineage, which includes the Tang poet Li Bai, the Tang Emperors also had Xianbei maternal ancestry, from Emperor Gaozu of Tangs Xianbei mother Duchess Dugu. He had prestige and military experience, and was a first cousin of Emperor Yang of Sui, Li Yuan rose in rebellion in 617, along with his son and his equally militant daughter Princess Pingyang, who raised and commanded her own troops. In winter 617, Li Yuan occupied Changan, relegated Emperor Yang to the position of Taishang Huang or retired emperor, and acted as regent to the puppet child-emperor, Emperor Gong of Sui. On the news of Emperor Yangs murder by General Yuwen Huaji on June 18,618, Li Yuan declared himself the emperor of a new dynasty, the Tang
21.
The Classic of Tea
–
The Classic of Tea or Tea Classic is the first known monograph on tea in the world, by Chinese writer Lu Yu between 760 CE and 762 CE, during the Tang Dynasty. Lu Yus original work is lost, the earliest editions available date to the Ming Dynasty, according to tea lore, Lu Yu was an orphan of Jinling county who was adopted by a Buddhist monk of the Dragon Cloud Monastery. He refused to take up the robes and was assigned menial jobs by his stepfather. Lu Yu ran away and joined the circus as a clown, at age 14, Lu Yu was discovered by the local governor Li Qiwu, who offered Lu Yu the use of his library and the opportunity to study with a teacher. During the An Lushan and Shi Siming rebellion period, Lu Yu retired to Shaoqi, Lu Yu made friends with many literati, including the calligrapher Yan Zhenqing and the poet Huangfu Zheng. For Lu Yu, tea symbolized the harmony and mysterious unity of the universe and he invested the Cha Ching with the concept that dominated the religious thought of his age, whether Buddhist, Taoist, or Confucian, to see in the particular an expression of the universal. In Lu Yus hometown, Tianmen, there is an ancient styled tower named according to the classic in honour of the great writer, Lu Yus Tea Classic is the earliest known treatise on tea, and perhaps the most famous work on tea. The book is not large, about 7000 Chinese characters in the language of the Tang Dynasty. It is made of Three Scrolls Ten Chapters, This chapter covers the origins of tea in China. It also contains a description of the tea plant and its proper planting as well as some etymological speculation, features. The characteristics of quality tea leaves, and soils and topography compared to tea quality, benefits of good teas and bad teas. The geographical region, harvest seasons and growing methods in relation to tea quality and this chapter describes fifteen tools for picking, steaming, pressing, drying and storing tea leaves and cakes. Tools for making compressed tea brick, construction and recommended materials and this chapter recommends methods for the production of tea cake. The right time of the day, season and climate for plucking, drying and storing of collected tea. Texture and features of quality brick tea, understanding process methods and how to identify quality brick tea. This chapter describes twenty eight items used in the brewing and drinking of tea, including specifications and instructions, construction, the effect of these utensils to tea brew. This chapter gives guidelines for the preparation of tea. Methods and steps for baking tea brick before brewing, storage of baked tea brick, types of water and water quality, things to look out for and timing of boiling water
22.
Zen
–
Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty as Chan Buddhism. Zen school was influenced by Taoism and developed as a distinguished school of Chinese Buddhism. From China, Chan Buddhism spread south to Vietnam, northeast to Korea and east to Japan, the term Zen is derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the Middle Chinese word 禪 which traces its roots to the Indian practice of Dhyana. Zen emphasizes rigorous self-control, meditation-practice, insight into Buddha-nature, as such, it de-emphasizes mere knowledge of sutras and doctrine and favors direct understanding through zazen and interaction with an accomplished teacher. The Prajñāpāramitā literature and, to an extent, Madhyamaka have also been influential in the shaping of the paradoxical language of the Zen-tradition. Central to Zen is the practice of dhyana or meditation, during sitting meditation, practitioners usually assume a position such as the lotus position, half-lotus, Burmese, or seiza postures, using the dhyāna mudrā. To regulate the mind, awareness is directed towards counting or watching the breath or by bringing that awareness to the center below the navel. Often, a square or round cushion placed on a mat is used to sit on, in some other cases. This practice may simply be called sitting dhyāna, which is zuòchán in Chinese, in the Sōtō school of Zen, meditation with no objects, anchors, or content, is the primary form of practice. The meditator strives to be aware of the stream of thoughts, allowing them to arise, in the Japanese language, this practice is called Shikantaza. Intensive group meditation may be practiced occasionally in some temples, in the Japanese language, this practice is called Sesshin. While the daily routine may require monks to meditate for hours each day. In modern Buddhist practice in Japan, Taiwan, and the West, lay students often attend these intensive practice sessions and these are held at many Zen centers, especially in commemoration of the Buddhas attainment of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi. One distinctive aspect of Zen meditation in groups is the use of a kyosaku, at the beginning of the Sòng dynasty, practice with the kōan method became popular, whereas others practiced silent illumination. This became the source of differences in practice between the Línjì and Cáodòng schools. A kōan, literally public case, is a story or dialogue and these anecdotes give a demonstration of the masters insight. Koans emphasize the non-conceptional insight that the Buddhist teachings are pointing to, koans can be used to provoke the great doubt, and test a students progress in Zen practice. Kōan-inquiry may be practiced during zazen, kinhin, and throughout all the activities of daily life, kōan practice is particularly emphasized by the Japanese Rinzai school, but it also occurs in other schools or branches of Zen depending on the teaching line
23.
Eisai
–
Myōan Eisai/Yōsai was a Japanese Buddhist priest, credited with bringing both the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism and green tea from China to Japan. He is often simply as Eisai/Yōsai Zenji, literally Zen master Eisai. Born in Bitchū Province, Eisai was ordained as a monk in the Tendai sect. He spent only six months in China on this first trip, but returned in 1187 for a stay as a disciple of Xuan Huaichang. After his certification as a Zen teacher, Eisai returned to Japan in 1191, bringing with him Zen scriptures and he immediately founded the Hōon Temple in remote Kyūshū, Japans first Zen temple. Eisai set about slowly propagating the new faith, trying to gain the respect of both the Tendai school and the Imperial court through careful diplomacy, hōjō Masako, Yoritomos widow, allowed him to build Jufuku-ji, the first Zen temple in Kamakura. Eisai founded Kennin-ji in Kyoto in 1202 on land gifted to him by Yoritomos son, Eisai died in 1215 at the age of 74, and is buried in Kennin-jis temple grounds. One feature of Eisais activity not often noted is his continued eclecticism and he never renounced his status as a Tendai monk, and until the end of his life continued to engage in Tendai esoteric practices. Though he is credited with transmission of the Rinzai line to Japan, among his notable disciples was Eihei Dōgen, who himself traveled to China and returned to found the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan. Eisai is also credited with the beginning of the tea tradition in Japan, by bringing green tea seeds from China, back from his trip in 1191. Legend says that he planted the seeds “in the garden of the Ishigamibo at Seburiyama in Hizen. ”In addition to his book, Eisai also garnered attention from another act involving his tea, using it as treatment for Shogun Sanetomo. This is a record of his treatment from the Azuma Kagami, “The shogun was taken a bit ill and this was not so serious but was from overindulgence in wine the previous evening. The priest Yojo, who had come to perform incantations and learned the situation, brought a bowl of tea from his temple, saying it was good medicine. He also asked the attendants to give the shogun a scroll of writings about the virtues of tea, priest Yojo indicated he had written it recently during his breaks from meditation. Eisai claimed that the standard Japanese fare of the time contained abundant amounts of each, except for the bitter flavor and he asserted that his green tea was essential for providing the bitter flavor, and thereby keeping the heart healthy. During the Nara and Heian periods in Japan, Buddhism was used as a tool to unify the country, Eisai was a firm believer that it should be Zen Buddhism to aid the protection of the country. He identified previously established schools of Buddhism as responsible for contributing to Japan’s struggles, during this time, three major scriptures were created to promote this idea of a unified Buddhist Japan, the Lotus Sutra, Golden Light Sutra, and the Humane King Sutra. The writing promotes the Zen ideals to bring Buddhism back to its morals, eisai’s writing depends heavily on the idea that Buddhism is critical for a functioning society
24.
Organ (anatomy)
–
In biology, an organ or viscus is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In anatomy, a viscus is an organ, and viscera is the plural form. Organs are composed of main tissue, parenchyma, and sporadic tissues, the main tissue is that which is unique for the specific organ, such as the myocardium, the main tissue of the heart, while sporadic tissues include the nerves, blood vessels, and connective tissues. The main tissues that make up an organ tend to have common embryologic origins, functionally related organs often cooperate to form whole organ systems. Organs exist in all biological organisms, in particular they are not restricted to animals. In single-cell organisms like bacteria, the analogue of an organ is called organelle. A hollow organ is an organ that forms a hollow tube or pouch, such as the stomach or intestine, or that includes a cavity. Two or more organs working together in the execution of a specific body function form an organ system, the functions of organ systems often share significant overlap. For instance, the nervous and endocrine system both operate via an organ, the hypothalamus. For this reason, the two systems are combined and studied as the neuroendocrine system, the same is true for the musculoskeletal system because of the relationship between the muscular and skeletal systems. Mammals such as humans have a variety of organ systems and these specific systems are also widely studied in human anatomy. Cardiovascular system, pumping and channeling blood to and from the body and lungs with heart, digestive system, digestion and processing food with salivary glands, esophagus, stomach, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, intestines, colon, rectum and anus. Excretory system, kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra involved in balance, electrolyte balance. Integumentary system, skin, hair and nails, nervous system, collecting, transferring and processing information with brain, spinal cord and nerves. Reproductive system, the sex organs, such as ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus, vulva, vagina, testes, vas deferens, seminal vesicles, prostate, respiratory system, the organs used for breathing, the pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi, lungs and diaphragm. Skeletal system, structural support and protection with bones, cartilage, ligaments, the organ level of organisation in animals can be first detected in flatworms and the more advanced phyla. The less-advanced taxa do not show consolidation of their tissues into organs, the study of plant organs is referred to as plant morphology, rather than anatomy, as in animal systems. Organs of plants can be divided into vegetative and reproductive, vegetative plant organs are roots, stems, and leaves
25.
Steeping
–
Steeping is the soaking in liquid of a solid so as to extract flavours or to soften it. The specific process of teas being prepared for drinking by leaving the leaves in heated water to release the flavour, herbal teas may be prepared by decoction, infusion, or maceration. Some solids are soaked to remove an ingredient, such as salt from smoked ham or salted cod, one example is the steeping of corn, part of the milling process. As described by the US Corn Refiners Association, harvested kernels of corn are cleaned, in the process their moisture content rises from 15% to 45% and their volume more than doubles. The gluten bonds in the corn are weakened and starch is released, the corn is then ground to break free the germ and other components, and the water used, which has absorbed various nutrients, is recycled for use in animal feeds. Dried teas as loose tea or tea bags are prepared for drinking by steeping the leaves in just boiled or heated water to release the flavour and this is often done in a cup, mug, teapot, pitcher or urn. A tea infuser or a tea strainer may be used to assist in this process, steeping grain is a part of beer making
26.
Gyokuro
–
Gyokuro is a type of shaded green tea from Japan. It differs from the standard sencha in being grown under the rather than the full sun. Gyokuro also differs from another shaded tea called kabusecha, in the length of time it undergoes the final growth under the shade, the name gyokuro translates as jewel dew. While most sencha is from the Yabukita cultivar of Camellia sinensis, gyokuro is often made from a variety such as Asahi, Okumidori, Yamakai. Since gyokuro is typically steeped at such a low temperature, sources may recommend preheating both the pot and cup to maintain the warmth of the tea as one drinks it. Though it is categorized as a type of sencha according to production methods, gyokuro tea leaves are shielded from the sun for at least 20 days with straw mats before being harvested. This causes both the amino acid theanine and the caffeine in the tea leaves to increase, which yields a sweet flavour. The tea also gains a distinct aroma from the covering process and this type of cultivation is also used in producing tencha, but records indicate this process had already been developed in the Azuchi-Momoyama period. Gyokuro is one of the most expensive types of sencha available in Japan, the name comes from the product name given to the tea by the Yamamotoyama Tea Company. The tea was first discovered by Yamamotoyamas sixth owner, Yamamoto Kahei, the process was completed by another manufacturer at the start of the Meiji period. The greatest appellation of gyokuro in terms of quality and quantity is Yamecha, which is produced in Yame in Fukuoka Prefecture. More than 40% of gyokuro is produced in Yame, and in the national tea jury in August 2007, the Uji district is the oldest gyokuro-producing region in Japan. Gyokuro should not be confused with tamaryokucha, a tea produced in the Kyushu region, tamaryokucha also has a sweet flavour, but its production process differs from that of gyokuro
27.
Phenolic content in tea
–
The phenolic content in tea refers to the phenols and polyphenols, natural plant compounds which are found in tea. These chemical compounds affect the flavor and mouthfeel and are speculated to provide health benefits. Polyphenols in tea include catechins, theaflavins, tannins, and flavonoids, catechins include epigallocatechin-3-gallate, epicatechin, epicatechin-3-gallate, epigallocatechin, catechin, and gallocatechin. The content of EGCG is higher in green tea. They are present in nearly all made from Camellia sinensis, including white tea, green tea, black tea. Of all the catechins in tea, EGCG is the subject of scientific study with regard to its potential health effects. Catechin monomer structures are metabolized into dimers theaflavins and oligomers thearubigins with increasing degrees of oxidation of tea leaves, theaflavins directly contribute to the bitterness and astringency of steeped black tea. The mean amount of theaflavins in a cup of tea is 12.18 mg. Three main types of theaflavins are found in tea, namely theaflavin, theaflavin-3-gallate. A number of studies on their possible health effects have been conducted. Tannins are astringent, bitter polyphenolic compounds that bind to and precipitate organic compounds, gallic acid conjugates all of the catechins, such as EGCG, which are tannins with astringent qualities. A group of natural phenols called the flavonoids are of popular interest because researchers have found them to have the potential to contribute to better health, tea has one of the highest contents of flavonoids among common food and beverage products. Catechins are the largest type 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. Health effects of tea Phenolic content in wine
28.
Astringent
–
An astringent substance is a chemical compound that tends to shrink or constrict body tissues. The word astringent derives from Latin adstringere, meaning to bind fast, two common examples are calamine lotion and witch hazel. Another example is yerba mansa, a plant of California. Astringency is also the dry, puckering mouthfeel caused by tannins found in fruits such as blackthorn, Aronia chokeberry, chokecherry, bird cherry, quince and persimmon fruits. The tannins bind the salivary proteins, causing them to precipitate or aggregate, tannins are found in some red wines and teas. A small amount of astringency is expected in some wines, especially young red wines made from such as cabernet sauvignon. Astringents in medicine cause constriction or contraction of mucous membranes or exposed tissues and are used internally to check discharge of blood serum or mucous secretions. This can happen with a throat, hemorrhages, diarrhea. Externally applied astringents, which cause mild coagulation of proteins, dry, harden. People with acne are often advised to use if they have oily skin. Mild astringent solutions are used in the relief of minor skin irritations as those resulting from superficial cuts, allergies, insect bites. Some common astringent agents include alum, acacia, sage, yarrow, witch hazel, bayberry, distilled vinegar, very cold water, and rubbing alcohol. Astringent preparations include silver nitrate, potassium permanganate, zinc oxide, zinc sulfate, Burows solution, tincture of benzoin, balaustines are the red rose-like flowers of the pomegranate, which are very bitter to the taste. In medicine, their form has been used as an astringent. Some metal salts and acids have also used as astringents. Redness-reducing eye drops contain an astringent, in the past, Goulards Extract was used, but is now discontinued. The dictionary definition of astringent at Wiktionary
29.
Polyphenol
–
Polyphenols are a structural class of mainly natural, but also synthetic or semisynthetic, organic chemicals characterized by the presence of large multiples of phenol structural units. The number and characteristics of these phenol structures underlie the unique physical, chemical, examples include tannic acid and ellagitannin. The historically important chemical class of tannins is a subset of the polyphenols, the term polyphenol appears to have been in use since 1894. g. Phenyl esters, methyl phenyl ethers and O-phenyl glycosides and this definition departs from the WBSSH definition in terms of physicochemical behavior, with its lack of reference to solubility, precipitation, and complexation phenomena. The raspberry ellagitannin, on the hand, with its 14 gallic acid moieties. Individual polyphenols engage in related to both their core phenolic structures, their linkages, and types of glycosides they form. In addition, as noted above, a feature of polyphenols was their ability to form particular. As opposed to smaller phenols, polyphenols are often larger molecules deposited in cell vacuoles, hence, many larger polyphenols are biosynthesized in-situ from smaller polyphenols to nonhydrolyzable tannins and remain undiscovered in the plant matrix. Most polyphenols contain repeating phenolic moieties of pyrocatechol, resorcinol, pyrogallol, proanthocyanidins are mostly polymeric units of catechin and epicatechin. The phenolic substructures arise from various biosynthetic pathways, especially phenylpropanoid and polyketide branches aimed at plant, in these, diverse biosynthetic steps abound, the seven-atom ring appearing in theaflavin structure above is an example of a carbocycle that is of a nonbenzenoid aromatic tropolone type. Because of the preponderance of saccharide-derived core structures, as well as spiro- and other structure types, the total synthesis of a fully unmasked polyphenol, that of the ellagitannin tellimagrandin I, was a diastereoselective sequence reported in 1994 by Feldman, Ensel and Minard. Khanbabaee and Grosser accomplished a relatively efficient total synthesis of pedunculagin in 2003, work proceeded with focus on enantioselective total syntheses, e. g. A biomimetic synthesis, and the first formal total synthesis 5-O-Desgalloyl-epi-punicacortein A, the novel strategies and methods referred to in these recent examples helped to open the field of polyphenol chemical synthesis to an unprecedented degree. They are reactive species toward oxidation, ABTS may be used to characterise polyphenol oxidation products. Polyphenols also characteristically possess a significant binding affinity for proteins, which can lead to the formation of soluble and insoluble protein-polyphenol complexes, some polyphenols are traditionally used as dyes. For instance, in the Indian subcontinent, the peel, high in tannins and other polyphenols. The aims are generally to use of plant residues from grape. Cashew nut shell liquid is an important phenolic raw material containing mostly cardol, cardanol, pyrogallol and pyrocatechin are among the oldest photographic developers
30.
Epicatechin gallate
–
Epicatechin gallate is a flavan-3-ol, a type of flavonoid, present in green tea. It is also reported in buckwheat and in grape, the tea component epicatechin gallate is being researched because in vitro experiments showed it can reverse methicillin resistance in bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus. If confirmed, this means the intake of a tea extract containing this component might also enhance the effectiveness of methicillin treatment against some resistant bacteria in vivo. Epicatechin, as well as other flavonoids, has been found to act as a non-selective antagonist of the opioid receptors. List of phytochemicals in food Green tea extract
31.
Catechin
–
Catechin /ˈkætᵻtʃɪn/ is a flavan-3-ol, a type of natural phenol and antioxidant. It is a plant secondary metabolite and it belongs to the group of flavan-3-ols, part of the chemical family of flavonoids. The name of the chemical family derives from catechu, which is the tannic juice or boiled extract of Mimosa catechu. Catechin possesses two benzene rings and a dihydropyran heterocycle with a group on carbon 3. The A ring is similar to a resorcinol moiety while the B ring is similar to a catechol moiety, there are two chiral centers on the molecule on carbons 2 and 3. Two of the isomers are in trans configuration and are called catechin, the most common catechin isomer is the -catechin. The other stereoisomer is -catechin or ent-catechin, the most common epicatechin isomer is -epicatechin. The different epimers can be distinguished using chiral column chromatography, making reference to no particular isomer, the molecule can just be called catechin. Mixtures of the different enantiomers can be called -catechin or DL-catechin and -epicatechin or DL-epicatechin, catechin and epicatechin are the building blocks of the proanthocyanidins, a type of condensed tannin. Diastereoisomers gallery Moreover, the flexibility of the C-ring allows for two isomers, putting the B ring either in a pseudoequatorial position or in a pseudoaxial position. Studies confirmed that -catechin adopts a mixture of A- and E-conformers in aqueous solution, as flavonoids, catechins can act as antioxidants when in high concentration in vitro, but compared with other flavonoids, their antioxidant potential is low. Electrochemical experiments show that -catechin oxidation mechanism proceeds in steps, related with the catechol and resorcinol groups. The oxidation of the catechol 3′, 4′-dihydroxyl electron-donating groups occurs first, at very low positive potentials, the hydroxyl groups of the resorcinol moiety oxidised afterwards were shown to undergo an irreversible oxidation reaction. The laccase/ABTS system oxidizes -catechin to oligomeric products of which proanthocyanidin A2 is a dimer, the two isomers are mostly found as cacao and tea constituents. -Epicatechin can be found in beans and was first called kakaool or cacao-ol. It was isolated from green tea by Michiyo Tsujimura in 1929, maximilian Nierenstein was among those who proved the presence of catechin in cocoa beans in 1931. Catechin is also found as glycoside and the form has also antioxidant properties in vitro. The main dietary sources of catechins in Europe and the United States are tea, catechins and epicatechins are found in cocoa, which, according to one database, has the highest content of catechins among foods analyzed, followed by prune juice and broad bean pod
32.
Flavan-3-ol
–
Flavan-3-ols are derivatives of flavans that use the 2-phenyl-3, 4-dihydro-2H-chromen-3-ol skeleton. These compounds include catechin, epicatechin gallate, epigallocatechin, epigallocatechin gallate, flavanols are not to be confused with flavonols, a class of flavonoids containing a ketone group. The single-molecule catechin, or isomer epicatechin, adds four hydroxyls to flavan-3-ol, making building blocks for concatenated polymers, flavanols possess two chiral carbons, meaning four diastereoisomers occur for each of them. Catechins are distinguished from the yellow, ketone-containing flavonoids such as quercitin and rutin, early use of the term bioflavonoid was imprecisely applied to include the flavanols, which are distinguished by absence of ketone. Catechin monomers, dimers, and trimers are colorless, higher order polymers, anthocyanidins, exhibit deepening reds and become tannins. The catechins are abundant in teas derived from the tea plant Camellia sinensis, as well as in some cocoas, catechins are also present in the human diet in fruits, vegetables and wine, and are found in many other plant species, as well as cocoa. Catechin and epicatechin are epimers, with -epicatechin and -catechin being the most common optical isomers found in nature, catechin was first isolated from the plant extract catechu, from which it derives its name. Heating catechin past its point of decomposition releases pyrocatechol, which explains the origin of the names of these compounds. Catechin gallates are gallic acid esters of the catechins, an example is epigallocatechin gallate, the flavonoids are products from a cinnamoyl-CoA starter unit, with chain extension using three molecules of malonyl-CoA. Reactions are catalyzed by a type III PKS enzyme and these enzyme do not use ACPSs, but instead employ coenzyme A esters and have a single active site to perform the necessary series of reactions, e. g. chain extension, condensation, and cyclization. Chain extension of 4-hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA with three molecules of malonyl-CoA gives initially a polyketide, which can be folded and these allow Claisen-like reactions to occur, generating aromatic rings. HSCoA, Coenzyme A. L-Tyr, L-tyrosine, L-Phe, L-phenylalanine, the supposed health benefits of catechins have been studied extensively in humans and animal models, but there are no proven effects that apply to human health. Until 2013, neither the Food and Drug Administration nor the European Food Safety Authority had approved any health claim for catechins or approved any as pharmaceutical drugs, moreover, several companies have been cautioned by the FDA over misleading health claims. Additionally, such a product is high in fat, sugar and Calories, fluorescence-lifetime imaging microscopy can be used to detect flavanols in plant cells Recent study tested catechins employed to coat nanoparticles of iron oxides in the blood. These particles allow visualization of vessels - and especially cancer tumors in mice - in an MRI exam, the nanoparticles would clump together without the catechin coating
33.
Flavonoid
–
Flavonoids are a class of plant and fungus secondary metabolites. Chemically, flavonoids have the structure of a 15-carbon skeleton. This carbon structure can be abbreviated C6-C3-C6 and this class was the first to be termed bioflavonoids. The terms flavonoid and bioflavonoid have also more loosely used to describe non-ketone polyhydroxy polyphenol compounds which are more specifically termed flavanoids. The three cycle or heterocycles in the backbone are generally called ring A, B and C. Ring A usually shows a phloroglucinol substitution pattern, Flavonoids are widely distributed in plants, fulfilling many functions. Flavonoids are the most important plant pigments for coloration, producing yellow or red/blue pigmentation in petals designed to attract pollinator animals. In higher plants, flavonoids are involved in UV filtration, symbiotic nitrogen fixation and they may also act as chemical messengers, physiological regulators, and cell cycle inhibitors. Flavonoids secreted by the root of their host plant help Rhizobia in the stage of their symbiotic relationship with legumes like peas, beans, clover. In addition, some flavonoids have inhibitory activity against organisms that cause plant diseases, over 5000 naturally occurring flavonoids have been characterized from various plants. Flavonols, the original such as quercetin, are also found ubiquitously. Further information on sources of flavonoids can be obtained from the US Department of Agriculture flavonoid database. Parsley, both fresh and dried, contains flavones, blueberries are a dietary source of anthocyanidins. Black tea is a source of dietary flavan-3-ols. The citrus flavonoids include hesperidin, quercitrin, rutin, and the flavone tangeritin, Flavonoids exist naturally in cocoa, but because they can be bitter, they are often removed from chocolate, even dark chocolate. Although flavonoids are present in milk chocolate, milk may interfere with their absorption, peanut skin contains significant polyphenol content, including flavonoids. Food composition data for flavonoids were provided by the USDA database on flavonoids, in the United States NHANES survey, mean flavonoid intake was 190 mg/d in adults, with flavan-3-ols as the main contributor. In the European Union, based on data from EFSA, mean flavonoid intake was 140 mg/d, the main type of flavonoids consumed in the EU and USA were flavan-3-ols, mainly from tea, while intake of other flavonoids was considerably lower
34.
Kaempferol
–
Kaempferol is a natural flavonol, a type of flavonoid, found in a variety of plants and plant-derived foods. Kaempferol is a crystalline solid with a melting point of 276–278 °C. It is slightly soluble in water and highly soluble in hot ethanol, ethers, kaempferol acts as an antioxidant by reducing oxidative stress. Many studies suggest that consuming kaempferol may reduce the risk of various cancers, kaempferol is a secondary metabolite found in many plants, plant-derived foods, and traditional medicines. Kaempferol is common in Pteridophyta, Pinophyta and Angiospermae, within Pteridophyta and Pinophyta, kaempferol has been found in diverse families. Kaempferol has also identified in both Dicotyledons and Monocotyledons of Angiosperms. The total average intake of flavonols and flavones in a diet is estimated as 23 mg/day. This pathway is located in the plant plastid, and is the entry to the biosynthesis of phenylpropanoids, the phenylpropanoid pathway is the pathway that converts phenylalanine into tetrahydroxychalcone. Flavonols, including kaempferol, are products of this pathway, kaempferol is ingested as a glycoside, absorbed in the small intestine, usually by passive diffusion due to kaempferol’s lipophilicity, and metabolized in various areas of the body. In the small intestine, kaempferol is metabolized to glucuronides and sulfoconjugates by intestinal enzymes and it can also be metabolized by colon microflora which can hydrolyze the glycosides to aglycones or form simple phenolic compounds. These compounds can be absorbed or excreted, kaempferol is also extensively metabolized in the liver to form glucurono-conjugated and sulfo-conjugated forms. These forms of kaempferol, and kaempferol itself, can then be excreted in urine, about 2. 5% of kaempferol ingested is excreted as urine. Much of the rest of ingested kaempferol is present in the plasma, in vitro studies along with some animal testing has demonstrated the wide range of potential anti-cancer properties of kaempferol. It has been shown in malignant cancer cells to interrupt cell growth, limit angiogenesis, induce apoptosis, kaempferol has also been shown to reduce MMP-3 protein activity inferring potential ability to reduce metastasis. Estrogen receptors are important in maintaining a normal mammary gland, and in the development of primary and secondary breast cancer. Kaempferol has been shown to interact with the estrogen receptor pathway and this compound exhibits ability to lower levels of Aromatase. Kaempferol has also found to induce apoptosis in breast cancer cells through extracellular signal-regulated kinase ½ activation and up-regulation of p53. Available evidence has shown that kaempferol can “inhibit VEGF production and suppress cancer cell metastasis in vitro”
35.
Quercetin
–
Quercetin /ˈkwɜːrsᵻtᵻn/ is a flavonol found in many fruits, vegetables, leaves, and grains. It can be used as an ingredient in supplements, beverages, while quercetin supplements have been promoted for prevention and treatment of cancer, there is no reliable clinical evidence that quercetin can prevent or treat cancer in humans. Also, there is no evidence that consuming foods rich in quercetin reduces the risk of cancer or any other disease, Quercetin supplements have also been promoted for the treatment of a wide spectrum of other diseases. Quercetin is contraindicated with some antibiotics, it may interact with fluoroquinolones, whether this inhibits or enhances the effect of fluoroquinolones is not certain. As paclitaxel is metabolized primarily by CYP2C8, its bioavailability may be increased unpredictably by quercetin, Quercetin is a flavonoid widely distributed in nature. The name has been used since 1857, and is derived from quercetum and it is a naturally occurring polar auxin transport inhibitor. Quercetin is one of the most abundant dietary flavonoids with a daily consumption of 25–50 mgs. In red onions, higher concentrations of quercetin occur in the outermost rings and in the part closest to the root, one study found that organically grown tomatoes had 79% more quercetin than non-organically grown fruit. Quercetin is present in various kinds of honey from different plant sources, one molecule of 4-coumaroyl-CoA is added to three molecules of malonyl-CoA to form tetrahydroxychalcone using 7, 2′-dihydroxy-4′-methoxyisoflavanol synthase. Tetrahydroxychalcone is then converted into naringenin using chalcone isomerase, naringenin is converted into eriodictyol using flavanoid 3′-hydroxylase. Eriodictyol is then converted into dihydroquercetin with flavanone 3-hydroxylase, which is converted into quercetin using flavonol synthase. Quercetin is the form of a number of other flavonoid glycosides, such as rutin and quercitrin, found in citrus fruit, buckwheat. Quercetin forms the glycosides quercitrin and rutin together with rhamnose and rutinose, likewise guaijaverin is the 3-O-arabinoside, hyperoside is the 3-O-galactoside, isoquercitin is the 3-O-glucoside and spiraeoside is the 4′-O-glucoside. CTN-986 is a quercetin derivative found in cottonseeds and cottonseed oil, the enzyme quercitrinase can be found in Aspergillus flavus. This enzyme hydrolyzes the glycoside quercitrin to release quercetin and L-rhamnose and it is an enzyme in the rutin catabolic pathway The oral bioavailability of quercetin in humans is low and highly variable and is rapidly cleared. Following dietary ingestion, quercetin undergoes rapid and extensive metabolism that makes the biological effects presumed from in vitro studies unlikely to apply in vivo, in rats, quercetin did not undergo any significant phase I metabolism. In contrast, quercetin did undergo extensive phase II to produce metabolites that are more polar than the parent substance and hence are more rapidly excreted from the body, the meta-hydroxyl group of catechol is methylated by catechol-O-methyltransferase. Four of the five groups of quercetin are glucuronidated by UDP-glucuronosyltransferase
36.
Myricetin
–
Myricetin is a member of the flavonoid class of polyphenolic compounds, with antioxidant properties. It is commonly derived from vegetables, fruits, nuts, berries, tea, myricetin is structurally similar to fisetin, luteolin, and quercetin and is reported to have many of the same functions as these other members of the flavonol class of flavonoids. Reported average intake of myricetin per day depending on diet. Dihydromyricetin is frequently sold as a supplement and has function as a partial GABAA receptor potentiator. Myricetin can alternatively be produced directly from kaempferol, which is another flavonol, antioxidants are molecules present in fruits and vegetables that have been demonstrated to protect against some forms of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Biomolecules and cell structures can experience oxidative stress due to the presence, ROS like •OH, •O2−, and H2O2 are produced during cellular metabolism processes. ROS can cause damage to lipids, DNA, and proteins, flavonoids including myricetin are able to scavenge for ROS and can chelate intracellular transition metal ions that ultimately produce ROS. Myricetin also enhances the effects of other antioxidants, myricetin can induce the enzyme glutathione S-transferase. GST has been suggested to protect cells against oxidative stress by protecting cells against free-radicals, in vitro studies have shown that myricetin significantly increased GST activity. Multiple studies have demonstrated that myricetin also has the potential to act as a pro-oxidant due to its tendency to undergo autoxidation depending upon its environment. It has been seen that when in the presence of cyanide, autoxidation is favored, resulting in superoxide, however, sodium azide, superoxide dismutase, and catalase have been seen to inhibit the autoxidation of myricetin. Myricetin may also act as a pro-oxidant in its ability to increase the production of hydroxy radicals through reactions with Fe2+ or Fe3+−EDTA, myricetin is also effective in protecting cells from carcinogenic mutation. Myricetin reduces the risk of skin tumorigenicity that is caused by aromatic hydrocarbons like benzopyrene. Myricetin provided protection against the formation of tumors in mice models after tumor initiating. On a more level, it was shown that topical application of myricetin to mice inhibited the binding of benzopyrenes to DNA. Myricetin also has shown to inhibit the act of genetic mutation as exhibited by the Ames test. This data shows that myricetin is not unilaterally able to reduce the activity of all polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or even the more specific subclass of benzopyrenes. It is to be noted that myricetin’s exact biochemical activity is not fully understood
37.
Catechins
–
Flavan-3-ols are derivatives of flavans that use the 2-phenyl-3, 4-dihydro-2H-chromen-3-ol skeleton. These compounds include catechin, epicatechin gallate, epigallocatechin, epigallocatechin gallate, flavanols are not to be confused with flavonols, a class of flavonoids containing a ketone group. The single-molecule catechin, or isomer epicatechin, adds four hydroxyls to flavan-3-ol, making building blocks for concatenated polymers, flavanols possess two chiral carbons, meaning four diastereoisomers occur for each of them. Catechins are distinguished from the yellow, ketone-containing flavonoids such as quercitin and rutin, early use of the term bioflavonoid was imprecisely applied to include the flavanols, which are distinguished by absence of ketone. Catechin monomers, dimers, and trimers are colorless, higher order polymers, anthocyanidins, exhibit deepening reds and become tannins. The catechins are abundant in teas derived from the tea plant Camellia sinensis, as well as in some cocoas, catechins are also present in the human diet in fruits, vegetables and wine, and are found in many other plant species, as well as cocoa. Catechin and epicatechin are epimers, with -epicatechin and -catechin being the most common optical isomers found in nature, catechin was first isolated from the plant extract catechu, from which it derives its name. Heating catechin past its point of decomposition releases pyrocatechol, which explains the origin of the names of these compounds. Catechin gallates are gallic acid esters of the catechins, an example is epigallocatechin gallate, the flavonoids are products from a cinnamoyl-CoA starter unit, with chain extension using three molecules of malonyl-CoA. Reactions are catalyzed by a type III PKS enzyme and these enzyme do not use ACPSs, but instead employ coenzyme A esters and have a single active site to perform the necessary series of reactions, e. g. chain extension, condensation, and cyclization. Chain extension of 4-hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA with three molecules of malonyl-CoA gives initially a polyketide, which can be folded and these allow Claisen-like reactions to occur, generating aromatic rings. HSCoA, Coenzyme A. L-Tyr, L-tyrosine, L-Phe, L-phenylalanine, the supposed health benefits of catechins have been studied extensively in humans and animal models, but there are no proven effects that apply to human health. Until 2013, neither the Food and Drug Administration nor the European Food Safety Authority had approved any health claim for catechins or approved any as pharmaceutical drugs, moreover, several companies have been cautioned by the FDA over misleading health claims. Additionally, such a product is high in fat, sugar and Calories, fluorescence-lifetime imaging microscopy can be used to detect flavanols in plant cells Recent study tested catechins employed to coat nanoparticles of iron oxides in the blood. These particles allow visualization of vessels - and especially cancer tumors in mice - in an MRI exam, the nanoparticles would clump together without the catechin coating
38.
Dietary supplement
–
A dietary supplement is intended to provide nutrients that may otherwise not be consumed in sufficient quantities. Supplements as generally understood include vitamins, minerals, fiber, fatty acids, or amino acids, U. S. authorities define dietary supplements as foods, while elsewhere they may be classified as drugs or other products. There are more than 50,000 dietary supplements available, more than half of the U. S. adult population consume dietary supplements with most common ones being multivitamins. These products are not intended to prevent or treat any disease and in some circumstances are dangerous, for those who fail to consume a balanced diet, the agency says that certain supplements may have value. Most supplements should be avoided, and usually people should not eat micronutrients except people with clearly shown deficiency and those people should first consult a doctor. An exception is vitamin D, which is recommended in Nordic countries due to weak sunlight, the product is labeled as a dietary supplement. In the United States, the FDA has different monitoring procedures for substances depending on whether they are presented as drugs, food additives, food, or dietary supplements. Dietary supplements are eaten or taken by mouth, and are regulated in United States law as a type of rather than a type of drug. The intended use of dietary supplements is to ensure that a person gets enough essential nutrients, Dietary supplements should not be used to treat any disease or as preventive healthcare. An exception to this recommendation is the use of vitamins. Supplements may create harm in several ways, including over-consumption, particularly of minerals, the products may also cause harm related to their rapid absorption in a short period of time, quality issues such as contamination, or by adverse interactions with other foods and medications. There are many types of dietary supplements, Vitamin is an organic compound required by an organism as a vital nutrient in limited amounts. An organic chemical compound is called a vitamin when it cannot be synthesized in sufficient quantities by an organism, thus, the term is conditional both on the circumstances and on the particular organism. For example, ascorbic acid is a vitamin for humans, supplementation is important for the treatment of certain health problems but there is little evidence of benefit when used by those who are otherwise healthy. Amino acids are biologically important organic compounds composed of amine and carboxylic acid functional groups, the key elements of an amino acid are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, though other elements are found in the side-chains of certain amino acids. Amino acids can be divided into three categories, essential amino acids, non-essential amino acids, and conditional amino acids, essential amino acids cannot be made by the body, and must be supplied by food. Non-essential amino acids are made by the body from essential amino acids or in the breakdown of proteins. Conditional amino acids are not essential, except in times of illness, stress
39.
Over-the-counter drug
–
In many countries, OTC drugs are selected by a regulatory agency to ensure that they are ingredients that are safe and effective when used without a physicians care. OTC drugs are regulated by active pharmaceutical ingredients, not final products. By regulating APIs instead of specific drug formulations, governments allow manufacturers freedom to formulate ingredients, or combinations of ingredients, into proprietary mixtures. The term over-the-counter may be somewhat counterintuitive, since, in many countries, in contrast, prescription drugs are almost always passed over a counter from the pharmacist to the customer. Some drugs may be classified as over-the-counter, but may only be dispensed by a pharmacist after an assessment of the patients needs or the provision of patient education. In many countries, a number of OTC drugs are available in establishments without a pharmacy, such as stores, supermarkets. Regulations detailing the establishments where drugs may be sold, who is authorized to dispense them, as of 2011, around a third of older adults in the U. S. reportedly use OTC drugs. In Canada, there are four drug schedules, Schedule 1, Schedule 2, Do not require a prescription, but require an assessment by a pharmacist prior to sale. These drugs are kept in an area of the pharmacy where there is no public access, Schedule 3, Do not require a prescription, but must be kept in an area under the supervision of a pharmacist. These drugs are kept in an area of the outlet where self-selection is possible. Unscheduled, Do not require a prescription and may be sold in any retail outlet, all medications outside of Schedule 1 may be considered an OTC drug, as they do not require prescriptions for sale. While the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities provides recommendations on the scheduling of drugs for sale in Canada, due to this, the exact drugs found in each schedule may vary from province to province. The drug can be on the shelves like any other product, examples are domperidone,400 mg ibuprofen up to 50 tablets and dextromethorphan. The drugs are usually on the shelves and the store sells items like toys, gadgets, perfumes. The drugs in this category have limited risk and addiction potential, examples are naproxen and diclofenac in small amounts, cinnarizine,400 mg ibuprofen up to 20 tablets and also 500 mg paracetamol up to 50 tablets. In the United States, the manufacture and sale of OTC substances is regulated by the Food, the FDA requires that all new drugs obtain a New Drug Application before entering interstate commerce, but the act exempts any drugs generally recognized as safe and effective from this requirement. Thus, in the United States an OTC drug product is allowed to be marketed either pursuant to an FDA monograph, the Federal Trade Commission regulates advertising of OTC products. This is in contrast to prescription drug advertising, which is regulated by the FDA, the FDA requires that OTC products are labeled with an approved Drug Facts label to educate consumers about their medications
40.
Health effects of tea
–
According to legend, the health effects of tea have been examined ever since the first infusions of Camellia sinensis about 4700 years ago in China. Emperor Shennong claimed in The Divine Farmers Herb-Root Classic that Camellia sinensis infusions were useful for treating a variety of disease conditions, black tea has been studied extensively for its potential to lower the risk of human diseases, but none of this research is conclusive as of 2015. Tea drinking accounts for a proportion of aluminum in the human diet. The levels are safe, but there has some concern that aluminum traces may be associated with Alzheimers disease. A recent study indicated that some teas contained possibly risky amounts of lead. There is still insufficient evidence to draw conclusions on this subject. Most studies have found no association between tea intake and iron absorption, however, drinking excessive amounts of black tea may inhibit the absorption of iron, and may harm people with anaemia. All tea leaves contain fluoride, however, mature leaves contain as much as 10 to 20 times the levels of young leaves from the same plant. The fluoride content of made tea depends on the method and fluoride content of the soil in which it is grown. Care in the choice of the location where the plant is grown may reduce the risk and it is speculated that hand-picked tea would contain less fluoride than machine-harvested tea, because there is a much lower chance of harvesting older leaves during the harvest process. The researchers suggested that economy teas may use older leaves which contain more fluoride, Tea contains oxalate, overconsumption of which can cause kidney stones, as well as binding with free calcium in the body. The bioavailability of oxalate from tea is low, thus a negative effect requires a large intake of tea. Massive black tea consumption has been linked to kidney failure due to its high oxalate content. Tea also contains theanine and the stimulant caffeine at about 3% of its dry weight, Tea also contains small amounts of theobromine and theophylline. The caffeine in tea is a mild diuretic, in 2011, the US Food and Drug Administration reported that there was very little evidence to support the claim that green tea consumption may reduce the risk of breast and prostate cancer. The US National Cancer Institute reports that in epidemiological studies and the few clinical trials of tea for the prevention of cancer, the institute does not recommend for or against the use of tea to reduce the risk of any type of cancer. Though there is positive evidence for risk reduction of breast, prostate, ovarian and endometrial cancers with green tea, it is weak. Black tea consumption may be associated with a risk of stroke
41.
Food energy
–
Food energy is chemical energy that animals derive from food and molecular oxygen through the process of cellular respiration. Humans and other animals need a minimum intake of energy to sustain their metabolism. Foods are composed chiefly of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, alcohol, water, vitamins, carbohydrates, fats, proteins, alcohol, and water represent virtually all the weight of food, with vitamins and minerals making up only a small percentage of the weight. Organisms derive food energy from carbohydrates, fats and proteins as well as organic acids, polyols. Some diet components that provide little or no energy, such as water, minerals, vitamins, cholesterol. Water, minerals, vitamins, and cholesterol are not broken down, fiber, a type of carbohydrate, cannot be completely digested by the human body. Ruminants can extract energy from the respiration of cellulose because of bacteria in their rumens. Using the International System of Units, researchers measure energy in joules or in its multiples, the kilojoule is most often used for food-related quantities. An older metric system unit of energy, still used in food-related contexts, is the calorie, more precisely. Within the European Union, both the kilocalorie and kilojoule appear on nutrition labels, in many countries, only one of the units is displayed, in the US and Canada labels spell out the unit as calorie or as Calorie. Fats and ethanol have the greatest amount of energy per gram,37 and 29 kJ/g. Proteins and most carbohydrates have about 17 kJ/g, carbohydrates that are not easily absorbed, such as fiber, or lactose in lactose-intolerant individuals, contribute less food energy. Polyols and organic acids contribute 10 kJ/g and 13 kJ/g respectively, the amount of water, fat, and fiber in foods determines those foods energy density. Theoretically, one could measure food energy in different ways, using the Gibbs free energy of combustion, however, the convention is to use the heat of the oxidation reaction, with the water substance produced being in the liquid phase. The American chemist Wilbur Atwater worked these corrections out in the late 19th century, based on the work of Atwater, it became common practice to calculate energy content of foods using 4 kcal/g for carbohydrates and proteins and 9 kcal/g for lipids. The system was improved by Annabel Merrill and Bernice Watt of the USDA. Many governments require food manufacturers to label the energy content of their products, in the European Union, manufacturers of packaged food must label the nutritional energy of their products in both kilocalories and kilojoules, when required. In Australia and New Zealand, the energy must be stated in kilojoules
42.
Carbohydrate
–
A carbohydrate is a biological molecule consisting of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2,1, in other words, with the empirical formula Cmn. This formula holds true for monosaccharides, some exceptions exist, for example, deoxyribose, a sugar component of DNA, has the empirical formula C5H10O4. Carbohydrates are technically hydrates of carbon, structurally it is accurate to view them as polyhydroxy aldehydes and ketones. The term is most common in biochemistry, where it is a synonym of saccharide, a group that includes sugars, starch, the saccharides are divided into four chemical groups, monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides. Monosaccharides and disaccharides, the smallest carbohydrates, are referred to as sugars. The word saccharide comes from the Greek word σάκχαρον, meaning sugar, while the scientific nomenclature of carbohydrates is complex, the names of the monosaccharides and disaccharides very often end in the suffix -ose. For example, grape sugar is the glucose, cane sugar is the disaccharide sucrose. Carbohydrates perform numerous roles in living organisms, polysaccharides serve for the storage of energy and as structural components. The 5-carbon monosaccharide ribose is an important component of coenzymes and the backbone of the genetic molecule known as RNA, the related deoxyribose is a component of DNA. Saccharides and their derivatives include many other important biomolecules that play key roles in the system, fertilization, preventing pathogenesis, blood clotting. In food science and in informal contexts, the term carbohydrate often means any food that is particularly rich in the complex carbohydrate starch or simple carbohydrates. Often in lists of information, such as the USDA National Nutrient Database, the term carbohydrate is used for everything other than water, protein, fat, ash. This will include chemical compounds such as acetic or lactic acid, carbohydrates are found in wide variety of foods. The important sources are cereals, potatoes, sugarcane, fruits, table sugar, bread, milk, starch and sugar are the important carbohydrates in our diet. Starch is abundant in potatoes, maize, rice and other cereals, sugar appears in our diet mainly as sucrose which is added to drinks and many prepared foods such as jam, biscuits and cakes. Glucose and fructose are found naturally in fruits and some vegetables. Glycogen is carbohydrate found in the liver and muscles, cellulose in the cell wall of all plant tissue is a carbohydrate. It is important in our diet as fibre which helps to maintain a healthy digestive system, formerly the name carbohydrate was used in chemistry for any compound with the formula Cm n
43.
Fat
–
Fat is one of the three main macronutrients, along with carbohydrate and protein. Fats, also known as triglycerides, are esters of three fatty acid chains and the alcohol glycerol, the terms oil, fat, and lipid are often confused. Oil normally refers to a fat with short or unsaturated fatty acid chains that is liquid at room temperature, lipid is the general term, as a lipid is not necessarily a triglyceride. Fats, like lipids, are generally hydrophobic, and are soluble in organic solvents. Fat is an important foodstuff for many forms of life, and they are a necessary part of the diet of most heterotrophs. Some fatty acids that are set free by the digestion of fats are called essential because they cannot be synthesized in the body from simpler constituents, there are two essential fatty acids in human nutrition, alpha-linolenic acid and linoleic acid. Other lipids needed by the body can be synthesized from these, fats and other lipids are broken down in the body by enzymes called lipases produced in the pancreas. Fats and oils are categorized according to the number and bonding of the atoms in the aliphatic chain. Fats that are saturated fats have no double bonds between the carbons in the chain, unsaturated fats have one or more double bonded carbons in the chain. The nomenclature is based on the end of the chain. This end is called the end or the n-end. Thus alpha-linolenic acid is called an omega-3 fatty acid because the 3rd carbon from that end is the first double bonded carbon in the counting from that end. Some oils and fats have double bonds and are therefore called polyunsaturated fats. Unsaturated fats can be divided into cis fats, which are the most common in nature, and trans fats. Unsaturated fats can be altered by reaction with hydrogen effected by a catalyst and this action, called hydrogenation, tends to break all the double bonds and makes a fully saturated fat. However, trans fats are generated during hydrogenation as contaminants created by a side reaction on the catalyst during partial hydrogenation. Saturated fats can stack themselves in a closely packed arrangement, so they can easily and are typically solid at room temperature. For example, animal fats tallow and lard are high in saturated fatty acid content and are solids, olive and linseed oils on the other hand are unsaturated and liquid
44.
Protein (nutrient)
–
Proteins are essential nutrients for the human body. They are one of the blocks of body tissue. As a fuel, proteins provide as much energy density as carbohydrates,4 kcal per gram, in contrast, the most important aspect and defining characteristic of protein from a nutritional standpoint is its amino acid composition. Proteins are polymer chains made of amino acids linked together by peptide bonds, during human digestion, proteins are broken down in the stomach to smaller polypeptide chains via hydrochloric acid and protease actions. This is crucial for the synthesis of the amino acids that cannot be biosynthesized by the body. There are nine amino acids which humans must obtain from their diet in order to prevent protein-energy malnutrition. They are phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tryptophan, methionine, leucine, isoleucine, lysine, there are five dispensable amino acids which humans are able to synthesize in the body. These five are alanine, aspartic acid, asparagine, glutamic acid and these six are arginine, cysteine, glycine, glutamine, proline and tyrosine. Humans need the essential amino acids in certain ratios, some protein sources contain amino acids in a more or less complete sense. This has given rise to various ranking systems for protein sources, Dietary sources of protein include both animals and plants, meats, dairy products, fish and eggs as well as grains, legumes and nuts. Vegetarians and vegans can get enough essential amino acids by eating a variety of plant proteins and it is commonly believed that athletes should consume a higher-than-normal protein intake to maintain optimal physical performance. Protein is a nutrient needed by the body for growth. Aside from water, proteins are the most abundant kind of molecules in the body, Protein can be found in all cells of the body and is the major structural component of all cells in the body, especially muscle. This also includes body organs, hair and skin, proteins are also used in membranes, such as glycoproteins. When broken down into amino acids, they are used as precursors to acid, co-enzymes, hormones, immune response, cellular repair. Additionally, protein is needed to form blood cells, proteins are believed to increase performance in terms of athletics. Amino acids, the blocks of proteins, are used for building muscle tissue. Protein is only used as fuel when carbohydrates are low
.jpg)
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small}
. PMID 23448443.
