|
|
 |
 |
| Sunday, 16 November 2003 |
 |
|
 |
Business |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
BoI project to produce green tea by Edward Weerasinghe Melfort Green Teas (Pvt) Ltd, a joint venture company between Free Lanka Management Company (Pvt) Ltd, the managing agent for Pussellawa Plantations Ltd, and Regency Teas (Pvt) Ltd, a leading green tea exporter, signed an agreement with the Board of Investment (BoI) to manufacture and export green tea (Chinese variety). Arjunna Mahendran, Chairman and Director General BoI and Lucille Wijewardena and Tiran Peiris, Directors of Melfort Green Teas signed the agreement at the BoI headquarters in Colombo. Peiris, who had been involved in tea plantations for a long time, said that it was recently discovered that green tea can be used in many ways. Green tea is drawing the attention of researchers. One notable finding is its pharmacological effects. Substances in green tea help to maintain good health. Recent studies indicate that green tea is potentially effective in preventing cancer, Alzheimer's Disease and E-coli bacteria infections and even cures food poisoning. Japan is now conducting national level research in these areas, he disclosed. However, green tea in liquid form does not optimise the full effects of the leaves, because not all useful substances dissolve into liquid. This used to be the only shortcoming of green tea, but this problem was solved by finding tasty ways to 'eat green tea'. All the nutrition in green tea can be retained by using tea leaves, either used or fresh, for cooking or baking. To maintain health or to prevent disease, 'eating green tea' is becoming increasingly popular. Another feature of green tea is that it can be used in many other ways besides drinking and eating. Green tea has been known to remove odours. It was used to remove odour from cutting boards and for dusting floors. New methods to optimise green tea are being found one after another in recent studies. It can be put inside a pillow, used in bath water or blended in skin lotions. Since green tea kills bacteria, many products using green tea substances, such as underclothes and stockings, have been made commercially available. Chewing gum and sweets with green tea are also available in the market. The number of uses for green tea has increased considerably from simple beverages to household items, Peiris added. In short, green tea is nature's botanical gift to mankind. Experts say that green tea is a beverage that has been known to mankind since 2700 BC. Under Pussellawa Plantations, a steamed green tea processing plant has already been commissioned with the intention of developing it into a fully fledged Japanese green tea plant in future. The Chinese green tea plant on Melfort Estate is scheduled to commence operations by the end of this month. The directors of Melfort Green Teas are K. Aloysius, W.L.P. Wijewardena, G.A. Aloysius, H.D.A.D. Perera, L.T.D. Peiris and R.V. Perera. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
