Students of IPB Took Advantage of the Old Tea Leaves to Overcome the Hypertension
Students of Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) did the research of the catechin content to prevent the symptom of hypertension or high blood pressure disease. Muhammad Nuur Faiziin, Reza Febryantara, and Naufal Bayu Prasetyo from Faculty of Agricultural Technology (Fateta) of IPB conducted the innovation by taking the old tea leaves in this research. The three of them were joined in Students Creativity Program (PKM) of IPB. Generally, we often encountered that the young tea leaves were often picked and used as the healthy drink, while the old tea leaves would be discarded.
“Young tea leaves contain the catechin as well as the old tea leaves that also contain the catechin, but rarely anyone uses it. Until finally the three of us decide to do the research related to the content in the old tea leaves to overcome the hypertension disease,” said Faiziin who was also the Chairman of PKM.
The hypertension was one of the most contagious diseases in the world. According to the research that the unhealthy lifestyle became the main factor causing this disease. The hypertension was attacking all people in terms of the age and the social status. The data showed that the number of people suffering from the hypertension in Indonesia based on the measurement at the age of 18 years of 25.8 percent and about a quarter of the adult population suffering from the hypertension. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) estimating in the next 2025, it was estimated approximately 29 percent of the world’s people affected by the hypertension.
“The treatment that can be done can use the synthetic drugs, but it is too risky, such as the chronic cough, the low blood, the kidney failure, and the angioedema. Therefore, there should be an alternative natural remedy to prevent the hypertension, one of them is by using the old tea leaves,” said Faiziin.
There were several types of tea in the market, such as the black tea, the green tea, and the oolong tea. The shoots of the tea leaves which were still rolled up and the first three young leaves became the part of the tea plants which were generally used to make all three types of tea. Faiziin revealed that the shoots and the first three leaves were selected, because they contained the high polyphenol antioxidant compounds which were supposed to prevent the occurrence of the hypertension disease. While the tea leaves on the order of the fifth to tenth after the shoot would be cut and discarded each time coming the period of the tea plant pruning. It was judged because these leaves did not produce the same quality of tea as the first three leaves of the shoots. The research also revealed that the catechin content was also present in five to ten tea leaves.
He saidg, the research conducted in the Laboratory of the Basic of Chemical Engineering and Technology of Fateta of IPB aimed to utilize the natural catechin source as the natural antioxidant. “According to the information we get that the treatment of the hypertension can be done by inhibiting the work of Angiotensin-I Converting Enzyme (ACE). The phenolic compound (catechin) of the tea leaf extract has the ability to inhibit the ACE action, so that it is able to prevent the symptom of hypertension. In the future, we hope this research will give a positive impact that is obtaining a potent hypertension medication, conduct the national and international publications, and be included in 109 most prospective innovations in Indonesia,” he added.(AT/NM)
