The All India Institute of Ayurveda is set to undertake research to discover the various health benefits of tea, including exploring possibilities for applications in the Ayurvedic line of medication and treatments. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the same was signed with The Andrew Yule Group on Thursday in New Delhi.
“This agreement is an attempt to scientifically catalog the various health benefits of tea as well as explore possibilities of tea’s application in providing Ayurvedic medicines,” said Sarbananda Sonowal, Union minister of Ayush, in whose presence the MoU was signed.
“From the days of the yore, tea has been consumed both for its taste as well as healing touch. For long, this rich bounty of nature has remained merely as a cash crop. With this collaboration, we are unrolling a possibility of a booming tourism industry with the healing touch of Ayurveda and yoga in the pristine lap of tea gardens,” the minister said.
The Andrew Yule and Company Limited (AYCL) has seven tea estates in Assam. An expert team from AIIA will collect tea samples from various tea estates of AYCL and perform a detailed analysis of various tea from the perspectives of Ayurveda and its benefits on human health.
Tea has been a popular drink among the indigenous population of Assam for a long time. If successful, the MoU is expected to propel Assam towards becoming a new destination of healing tourism in the South East Asian region, according to sources.
