METHOD FOR PREPARING TEA FROM WILLOW-HERB Russian patent published in 1997 - IPC

FIELD: food industry. SUBSTANCE: proposed method resides in following: willow-herb (its name in Latin is Epilobium L. and it is commonly known in Russia as "John's tea") is subjected to predrying to residual moisture content 50-60% followed by freezing dried herb down to temperature (-10) - (-20) C for 9-1 h and by heat treatment at temperature 50-100 C until weight losses 10-15 wt. % take place. Next herb is subjected to fermentation, grinding, granulation and final drying. Besides, after heat treatment step, herb mass is blended with fruit or berries in weight ratio, wt.%: willow-herb 80, fruit or berries 20. It is possible to use for blending, e.g. raspberries and wild strawberries taken in equal amounts. EFFECT: 1) method permits to fully rule out losses of valuable substances initially contained in willow-herb leaves; 2) resulting herb tea is useful and has excellent nutritional and organoleptic properties; 3) properties of tea remain intact during storage up to 3 years. 3 cl, 1 tbl