The Use of Commercially Sold Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis (Burm.f.) R.Dahlgren) Tea from Past to Present, Some Morphological and Anatomical Studies on Its Samples

Year 2025, Volume: 54 Issue: Özel Sayı 1, 203 - 210, 25.03.2025

Şerife Sarıkaya , Ayşe Baldemir Kılıç

https://doi.org/10.53471/bahce.1549006

Abstract

Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis Brum.f. R.Dahlgr., Fabaceae) is an endemic shrub growing in the Cederberg Mountains in the north of South Africa. Tea prepared from the leaves and stem parts of this species is usually fermented and consumed. As a result of fermentation, the plant particles turn red-brown due to oxidation of polyphenols and are called ‘Red Rooibos tea’. The unfermented form of the plant is known as ‘Green Rooibos’. In the 1700s, an indigenous tribe of the Cape Province in the West of South Africa started to use the tea prepared from the plant after discovering that it had a pleasant aroma and traditionally called it ‘long life tea’. In this study, information on the traditional uses of Rooibos tea was compiled and morphological-anatomical examinations of the tea samples were carried out. Two types of evaluations were made in the morphological part of the study. Firstly, red-brown leaf particles and yellow inside and brown outside shells were detected in fermented tea samples. In contrast, unfermented Rooibos tea comprised green leaf particles and yellowish-brown woody particles. In anatomical examinations, yellowish-brown parenchyma cells, anomocytic stomata in the epidermis, reddish-brown cork tissue cells, sclerenchyma fibres, starch grains, single and double celled cover hairs are the characteristic elements.

Keywords

Rooibos tea, traditional use, Aspalathus linearis, morphological and anatomical study

Piyasada Satılan Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis (Burm.f.) R.Dahlgren) Çayının Geçmişten Günümüze Kullanımı, Örnekleri Üzerinde Bazı Morfolojik ve Anatomik İncelemeler

Abstract

Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis Brum.f. R.Dahlgr., Fabaceae) Güney Afrika’nın kuzeyindeki Cederberg dağlarında yetişen endemik bir çalı türüdür. Bu türün yaprakları ve gövde parçalarından hazırlanan çay genellikle fermente edilerek tüketilmektedir. Bitki parçacıkları fermantasyon sonucunda polifenollerin oksidasyonuyla kırmızı-kahverengiye dönüşmekte ve “Kırmızı Rooibos çayı” olarak adlandırılmaktadır. Bitkinin fermente edilmemiş hali ise “Yeşil Rooibos” olarak bilinmektedir. 1700’lü yıllarda Güney Afrika’nın batısında yer alan Cape Eyaletinin yerli bir kabilesi, bitkiden hazırlanan çayın hoşa giden bir aromaya sahip olduğunu keşfettikten sonra kullanmaya başlamışlar ve geleneksel olarak “uzun yaşam çayı” olarak isimlendirmişlerdir. Bu çalışmada Rooibos çayının geleneksel kullanımları ile ilgili bilgiler derlenmiş ve ayrıca temin edilen çay numunelerinin morfolojik-anatomik incelemeleri yapılmıştır. Çalışmanın morfolojik kısmında iki tip değerlendirme yapılmıştır. İlk olarak fermente çay örneklerinde kırmızı-kahverengi yaprak parçacıkları ile içi sarı dışı kahverengi kabuklar tespit edilirken, fermente edilmemiş Rooibos çayının ise yeşil renkli yaprak parçacıkları, sarımsı-kahverengi odunsu parçacıklardan oluştuğu görülmüştür. Anatomik incelemelerde ise sarımsı-kahverengi parenkima hücreleri, epidermada anomositik stomalar, kırmızımsı-kahverengi olarak görülen mantar doku hücreleri, sklerenkima lifleri, nişasta tanecikleri, tek ve çift hücreli örtü tüyleri öne çıkan karakteristik elemanlardır.

Keywords

Rooibos çayı, geleneksel kullanım, Aspalathus linearis, morfolojik ve anatomik inceleme

Thanks

Bu çalışma bir Yüksek Lisans tezinden üretilmiş olup Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi Bilimsel Araştırma Projeleri Birimi tarafından desteklenmiştir (id: 2022/022).

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