**4. Health functions of scented tea**

### **4.1 Anti-oxidant effects**

The anti-oxidant effects of scented tea can be attributed to the polyphenols in the tea and vitamins, flavonoids and phenols in the different scents. Ma et al. [12] found that jasmine scented tea contained large amounts of tea polyphenols compared *Research Progress on the Health Benefits of Scented Tea DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.106605*

with black and green teas and its anti-oxidant effects were greater that of vitamin C, as determined using the diphenyl-picrohydrazide method. Cong et al. [49] supplemented the diets of growing rats with 6% jasmine scented tea for 30 days and reported an significantly increased activity of anti-oxidant enzymes in the serum and liver. In addition, jasmine scented tea extract has significant anti-oxidant and anti-ageing effects on ageing mice [50]. A study on the anti-oxidant effect of healthy rabbits in vitro showed that the polar components of osmanthus tea can effectively remove superoxide ions in the body and lipid peroxidation of mitochondria in vitro [51]. Chen et al. [52] reported that 6 weeks of continuous gavage using rose scented tea in restraint stressed mice significantly increased the reduced liver catalase activity and glutathione content observed due to restraint stress and decreased plasma homocysteine levels by 20%. In addition, roses contain a large amount of vitamin C, which is a water-soluble vitamin with strong anti-oxidant activity that can effectively eliminate free radicals. After binding with free radicals, vitamin C can be transformed into dehydroascorbic acid and monohydroascorbic acid to eliminate free radicals, giving roses their anti-oxidant effect [43].
