METHOD OF PRODUCING TEA FROM WILLOWWEED (WILLOW HERB) (VERSIONS) Russian patent published in 1998 - IPC

FIELD: food industry, in particular, production of black tea substitute. SUBSTANCE: method involves withering, grinding, heat treatment, fermentation and drying. Withering of willowweed is carried out up to 55-65% of moisture content at temperature not higher 50 C, and grinding, up to 2-6 mm in size. Fermentation is conducted after withering and grinding for 3-5 h till forming typical dark color with slight dark-green tint. Drying is carried out before heat treatment up to 12% of moisture content. Heat treatment is conducted for 1-1.5 h at temperature 60-70 C up to 7-9% of moisture content. According to the second version, after heat treatment, mass is granulated by extrusion at temperature 60-80 C in single- or two-screw extruder at 100-120 rpm speed of rotation. Before granulation, mass is moistened with water in the amount of 16-16.5% to mass of raw material, and after extrusion, granules are cut to 4-6 mm in size. EFFECT: maximum content of biologically active substances. 3 cl, 2 expd