by Shannon Amidon Castille

This article was originally published last spring from UH Hilo’s College of Pharmacy’s Kawili La’au magazine.

Drinking a daily cup of tea will surely starve the apothecary.  ~Chinese Proverb

If you had a little money to invest, where should you put it? Dr. Anthony D. Wright has a suggestion: how about a tea farm?

Why? Green, First Flush, White, Oolong, Black, and hundreds of other varieties of tea all come from one plant: Camellia sinensis. And billions of people drink it.

A world leader in the study of natural products drugs discovery, this Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences says he may follow his own advice.

I’m seriously thinking about buying a piece of land to farm,  he said.  Hawai`i tea is an absolutely unique product, and the potential is immense for high end quality teas.

He recently shared the results of his pilot project, Investigation of Hawaiian Green Tea, at a University of Hawai`i Hilo Women’s Center and Center for Global Education and Exchange special program.

We are interested in tea because it is a natural product that has a huge commercial value. In many ways it is more valuable than pharmaceuticals.  he said.

The study, conducted last summer at Mauna Kea Tea Plantation, examined the production of three compounds in the bud and first two leaves of tea plants.

Conducted in a bit less than three months, the pilot project group included CoP visiting scholars Ran Song from Yale University and Kimberly Johns from Sheffield Hallam University, CoP Post Doc Dovi Kelman and Dr. Wright.  The group sought a better understanding about the effect of shade on the tea plant. We looked at the specific chemical components of tea all reported to have health enhancing pharmacological effects,  explained Dr. Wright, an antioxidant (epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG), a stimulant (caffeine), and an amino-acid (theanine) reported to assist with improving memory.

And what did the study reveal?

That tea is good for you,  he said, and added,  in a more specific sense, our study showed that as leaves age in going from the bud to the first and second leaves, levels of caffeine and theanine decrease, while the level of EGCG increases — but in our study only when shade is considered as a variable.

People are not just drinking it (tea) either,  he pointed out. Tea is found in cosmetics and over-the-counter products.  I think there is an anti-viral cream available containing tea,  he added. There is much more research to be done. People are researching tea but the data are very scattered,  said Dr. Wright. In fact what tweaked my interest was a colleague of mine Joe-Ann McCoy (Director, Bent Creek Medicinal Germplasm Repository in North Carolina) told me, “You should really have a look at this.”

Dr. Wright hopes to offer assistance to Hawai`i tea farmers with future studies.  He said, “We would like to help them with some sort of chemical validation to further add value to their products. ”

What do these words mean? Why have they become so important after several years of effort by so many people?

The Camellia sinensis tea grown in Hawaii is an agriculture crop reintroduced in 2001 by horticultural research from the Pacific Basin Agriculture Research Center USDA and continued experimentation with the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. The formation of potential growers interested in participating in Hawaii’s new industry was established, hence the Hawaii Tea Society HTS was founded in 2003 to support the tea growing community passionate in producing a high quality small-scale tea industry in the state of Hawaii.

Our original diverse group of tea growers as well as on-going new tea growers has brought about a tremendous amount of useful information in propagation, cultivation and processing over the last handful of years. It is quite amazing that all of Hawaii’s tea growers have accomplished so much in such a short amount of time without any tea farming heritage of our own to draw upon.

HTS rooted tea cuttings propagation program.

Unlike many other tea producing countries that have tea growers sending their picked harvests to processing factories, tea growers in Hawaii are also processing our own tea. Finding our way as to what works best for us, courageously taking risks, adopting traditional aspects of tea processing methods and crafting our own skills into a unique tea experience that has been the original premise on which the Hawaii tea growing community began.

Innovative thinking has enabled us growers to utilize a wide spectrum of agricultural approaches including conventional farming, gardening, nurseries, HTS workshops with tea farmers from abroad and locally practiced wild organic techniques all integrated with good old intuition. Hawaii’s growers have been experimenting with various known cultivars as well as seedlings from the unknown with a focus most suited for each location. The commitment to the daily attention in the field to the processing of tea has placed Hawaii on the map as the only state in the United States setting sail in moving forward as a tea producing state.

Volcano region tea flush.

We now find ourselves in a phase of understanding what we have produced and how to continually improve upon it. Often we find ourselves placed in moments of reflection and contemplation when asked what makes our tea so unique. How do we build a strong consumer following from the lessons we’ve learned so our tea doesn’t just become a novelty item and will gain speed as a high quality agriculture product? What makes us stand apart?

We all know that the elements of soil, air and water are the gifts that Hawaii provides us growers and how fellow tea growers in other countries are constantly battling man made pollution. Hawaii’s recent developments of the eruption from Kilauea Volcano Halemaumau crater spewing large amounts of Sulfur dioxide (S02) has shown that the camellia sinensis tea growing in Hawaii is holding up well under the circumstances. As we hone in on our growing practices, refine our processing techniques in developing a greater tea industry in Hawaii we are faced with environmental and cultural issues that effect the understanding origins of our tea.

The established marketing philosophies of products grown in Hawaii or imported and repackaged in Hawaii that are labeled “Hawaiian” have long been adapted for the purpose of commercial marketability. This method has brought about much discussion and questions being considered for the tea industry in Hawaii.

How do we identify the origin of the camellia sinensis tea we grow, process and market? Shall we follow the status quo in commercial marketing of tea grown in Hawaii as “Hawaiian” and if so what is the historical thread the Hawaiian people have with camillia sinensis tea? Should we respond accurately to our children’s questions, the children who may be Hawaii’s next generation of tea farmers, if what we grow in Hawaii is Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, African, East Indian or Turkish? How do we convey to our supporting communities a truth in labeling that speaks of who we are and what we produce?

It’s a topic that comes up time and time again.

Here are a few facts for folks to draw their own conclusions. In 2005 it was concluded at the Tea Conference Hawaii that cultural sensitivity should be considered when educating the public and the marketing of tea grown in Hawaii. There is no historical reference of the Hawaiian people using camellia sinensis tea. Tea produced in Hawaii should identify its origin by region not ethnicity. College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources and the Hawaii Tea Society has agreed in educating the public and work toward legalizing the branding of tea grown in Hawaii as “Hawaii Grown”.

2008 Mayor Harry Kim and tea grower Eva Lee at Tea Conference Hawaii discuss culture and agriculture.

Profiling ourselves as individuals within communities that believe in Hawaii becoming an established high quality small-scale tea producing state with creative signature branding has and continues to evolve for Hawaii’s tea growers.

So this brings us back to the area concerning what makes us stand apart from all the other established tea-producing countries. Today’s consumers have discriminating tastes. The specialty market is rising and these consumers respond to quality goods, terroir and place of origin. Perhaps in welcoming those entering our tea world we should consider expressing two simple words…”Hawaii Grown”.

Eva Lee is a founding member of the Hawaii Tea Society (www.hawaiiteasociety.org).  She held the office of Vice President 2003-2004, President 2005-2007 and is presently the Chair of Propagation. Lee and her husband Chiu Leong grow tea in Volcano Village and are owners of Tea Hawaii & Company representing a collective of Hawaii tea growers and are participants of Hawaii agritourism showcasing Hawaii grown tea and Hawaii tea growers.

www.teahawaii.com
Tel: 808-967-7637