Although the antibacterial properties of green tea have been knownfor a long time, an entirely newproperty of the herb has just beenreported by a group of Britishresearchers. I M T Hamilton-Millerand his colleagues from Royal FreeHospital School of Medicine,London, report that extracts ofgreen tea (an aqueous extract ofCamellia sinensis) may m ake strainsof drug-resistant bacteria moresensitive to penicillin.
In the new study, Hamilton-Miller's group added green teaextracts to different strains ofantibiotic-resistant Staphylococcusaureus (S aureus) bacteria growingon laboratory dishes containingbenzylpenicillin. S aureus usuallycauses skin infections and abscesses.
The researchers found that aftertreatment with the tea extract, manyof these strains showed reversalof penicillin resistance, insteadshowing increased sensitivity to theantibiotic. The investigators alsofound that diluted tea extract actedwith antibioti", making them morepotent against particular strains ofS aureus. The researchers believethat the two activities may be duethe action of a single compoundwhich is being identified.