IRON FORTIFIED TEA AND A PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURE THEREOF

摘要

The fortification of tea using any of the commonly known iron salts results in complexation ofiron with tea polyphenols when tea is brewed, leading to discoloration of the brew and making it unpalatable. This invention overcomes this problem by identifying iron salts and provides process for manufacture of iron fortified tea using the identified iron salts, wherein the identified iron salt does not interact with the tea polyphenols, when beverage is made. The fortified tea manufactured has appearance similar to regular tea and the tea beverage prepared from such iron fortified tea by the same process as used for regular tea has appearance and taste similar to beverage prepared from regular tea with the additional benefit of iron enrichment to the consumers. This invention is applicable to fortification of both black tea and green tea.