awa bancha boil-then-lactic fermentation
process / process-awa-bancha-fermentation
阿波晩茶の一段階乳酸発酵
Awa bancha boil-then-lactic fermentation is a post-fermentation step in making Awa-bancha. Heat treatment, such as boiling the tea leaves in a large cauldron, first prevents oxidative fermentation; the leaves are then packed into vats or barrels for a single stage of lactic acid fermentation alone. It differs from the two-stage fermentation of Goishicha and Ishizuchi-kurocha in that it has no mold-inoculation step.
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Reading the bitterness
Awa-bancha production begins by heat-treating tough tea leaves harvested late in summer, for example by boiling them in a large cauldron, to stop oxidative fermentation. The steps proceed in this order: picking, boiling, rubbing, packing for fermentation, drying, and sorting the tea. Packing the boiled leaves in vats or barrels promotes only a new lactic acid fermentation, without a mold-inoculation step involving filamentous fungi, resulting in a single stage of post-fermentation.
This production method was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property under the title 『阿波晩茶の製造技術』 (in translation: "Manufacturing technique of Awa-bancha") on March 11, 2021. It is transmitted in 3 towns in Tokushima Prefecture: Kamikatsu in Katsuura District, Naka in Naka District, and Minami in Kaifu District. The protecting organizations are the Awa Bancha Manufacturing Technique Preservation Societies in the respective towns.
In a peer-reviewed study comparing hot-water infusions under the same conditions (1.5 g of tea leaves in 100 mL of boiling water for 5 minutes), unfermented green tea contained 43.7 mg/100 mL caffeine and 87.8 mg/100 mL total catechins, whereas 2 Awa-bancha samples from different producers contained only 3.8–6.1 mg/100 mL caffeine and 7.9–9.7 mg/100 mL total catechins. Of the 4 post-fermented teas compared in that same paper, Awa-bancha had the lowest catechin concentration.
Sources for this overview
Checked for this overview: Confirmed the single-stage process in which boiling stops oxidative fermentation and packing promotes only lactic acid fermentation, along with the sequence from tea picking through sorting. / Confirmed the designation name and date, 3 transmitting towns, and protecting organizations in the original Agency for Cultural Affairs record.
Comparison of antioxidant activities among four kinds of Japanese traditional fermented tea
Checked for this overview: Measured caffeine and catechin concentrations compared with the green-tea control.
Follow the connections
awa bancha boil-then-lactic fermentation →reduces→ tea catechins →are main contributors to→ astringency
Structured claims — open a section to read each claim's confidence, evidence and limits
How processing and cooking change it (2)
Scope: Kamikatsu, Naka, and Minami, Tokushima Prefecture
Note: Included after directly checking the original record in the Agency for Cultural Affairs' 「文化遺産オンライン」 (in translation: "Cultural Heritage Online") (heritage id 541631).
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process-awa-bancha-fermentation —is_prepared_by→ "Hard tea leaves picked in the late part of summer are given heat treatment, such as boiling in a large kettle, to prevent oxidative fermentation from occurring, after which they are packed into barrels or vats to promote a new lactic acid fermentation. The process goes through tea picking, tea boiling, tea rubbing, pickling, tea drying, and sorting."Scope: Layer: Food. Green tea (unfermented, control) and Awa-bancha (2 samples from different producers) extracted under identical conditions (hot water 100 mL, 1.5 g leaf, 5 minutes), n=5 comparison.
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process-awa-bancha-fermentation —reduces→ compound-catechinsSafety and regulation (1)
Scope: Kamikatsu, Naka, and Minami, Tokushima Prefecture
Note: Included after directly checking the original record in the Agency for Cultural Affairs' 「文化遺産オンライン」 (in translation: "Cultural Heritage Online") (heritage id 541631).
Show data
process-awa-bancha-fermentation —is_registered_as→ "Designated as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property under the name 『阿波晩茶の製造技術』 (in translation: "Manufacturing technique of Awa-bancha") on March 11, 2021. The area of transmission is Kamikatsu (Katsuura District), Naka (Naka District), and Minami (Kaifu District), Tokushima Prefecture. The preserving body is the Awa Bancha Manufacturing Technique Preservation Society (the preservation societies of each town)."