Tea provides protection equal to SPF 50 sunscreen!

Trakya University Faculty of Pharmacy faculty member and Head of the Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gedik, stated that they investigated whether tea has protective properties against ultraviolet rays and that they used green and black Rize tea during their research.

Explaining that they tested the protective properties of brewed tea on volunteers, Gedik noted the following:

"We obtained tea extract using the method we brew at home. We tested it on volunteers to see if this extract could have protective efficacy against the sun. In the form we know, it is difficult to apply tea in solution form to the skin; it can run off immediately. Therefore, we formulated it within a carrier system. We turned it into a gel. In the studies we conducted at Marmara University, we tested whether both the carrier system and the tea-infused versions were protective through human studies. These studies showed that the black and green tea formulated into a gel provided protection equal to a well-known brand's SPF 50 cream in the narrow-band ultraviolet range."

Gedik stated that they worked with 21 subjects, 15 of whom were women, between the ages of 20 and 48 in the tests, and that the study was published in the journal "Journal of Cosmetic Science".

Explaining that they also compared the sun protection of Turkish tea with Kenyan and Far Eastern teas, Gedik said, "When we looked at the efficacy of the product harvested in Turkey that we studied, we saw that the gel formula we obtained from these had the highest sun protection efficacy."

Stating that during the tests, different areas on the subjects' backs were determined after their minimal erythema (burning) doses were established, Gedik said, "Green tea, black tea, caffeine, which we read in the literature could be effective, and a commercially available SPF 50 product were applied to these areas."

Stating that they conducted the study in the UVB narrow band and showed that tea has the potential to provide protection from the sun, Gedik explained that for the plant to be a suitable sunscreen product, it must also show protective effects against UVA, UVC, and broad-band B.

Gedik said, "Only when these are present can it be an alternative to other physical protectors. Tea is a beverage with high added value in our country and is widely consumed globally. This beverage could be used for this purpose. It is not just tea; there are many plants with similar polyphenolic structures. These also have sun protection potential."

Gedik noted that they are continuing their studies on the protective properties of tea at Trakya University.