Journal of Tea Science Research, 2024, Vol.14, No.1, 19-43 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/jtsr 35 Jeevanandan, 2019; Kusumawardani et al., 2019). It is noteworthy that the antimicrobial activity of WTE against oral pathogens is dose dependent. Increasing the white tea mouthwash treatment from 20 µL to 40 µL increased the zone of inhibition by 2% for Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus acidophilus, while increasing to 60 µL increased the antibacterial efficacy by up to 3% (Jeevanandan, 2019). More inhibition with increasing WTE concentration from 0 to 40% was also observed for Porphyromonas gingivalis and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (Auerkari and Suhartono, 2018). The widely reported remineralization functionality of WTE also contributes to its effect in fighting caries. WTE treatment increased the microhardness value by respective 36% and 62% for demineralized dentin and enamel, indicating its remineralization functionality through cross-linking of the collagen network (Sayed and Roushdy, 2023; Roushdy and El-Sayed, 2023). Both the antioxidant and anti-collagenolytic activities of WTE were likely responsible for this functionality because it exhibited strong anti-elastase and anti-collagenase capacity (Daokar et al., 2020). Enhanced microtensile bond strength in demineralized dentin was observed when WTE was used as a natural remineralization agent, and its action potential was gradually stabilized with time from 0 to 3 months (Roushdy et al., 2022). Interestingly, for dentin without preceding demineralization, WTE alone reduced its hardness whereas combined WTE and xylitol clearly increased the hardness, regardless of their concentrations (Auerkari et al., 2018). The WTE concentration, complexation with other reagents, and application duration are important factors to consider when using WTE to treat caries. 4.2.3 Intoxication The versatile bioactive components in WTE have encouraged researchers to investigate its potential against various toxins, and several mechanisms have been discovered. Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) is a well-known toxin generated from incomplete combustion of organic compounds, which can be absorbed by humans through the oral, inhalation, and dermal exposure routes (Verma et al., 2012). In rats with BaP-induced pulmonary toxicity, WTE was effective in restoring BaP-induced oxidative and inflammatory stress and lung histoarchitecture, with the efficacy similar to pure EGCG (Dhatwalia et al., 2019). Similarly, the biomarkers in conditions of inflammatory, oxidative, and hepatic stress were decreased after treatment with WTE in BaP-intoxicated rats, and the hepatic histoarchitectural changes also showed improvement (Rangi et al., 2018). WTE also exhibited protection in rats against the intoxication induced by with mutagenic, genotoxic, and carcinogenic toxins. In the same study, the effectiveness of WTE was better than black, red, and green teas (Tomaszewska et al., 2018). Furthermore, Hamdy et al. (2022) reported that white tea can act as a potent anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anti-apoptotic agents to protect rat liver injury from acrylamide, a potential carcinogen produced in a variety of foods during cooking. 5 Conclusions The chemical composition of white tea exhibits significant variation attributed to differences in subtypes, harvest time, and storage duration. While it is often claimed that white tea possesses a distinct phytochemical profile compared to other tea types, definitive conclusions regarding specific components cannot be drawn with certainty. The substantial variation in compositional underscores the importance of efficient extraction of white tea as it enhances the overall utilization rate of the tea. Of the two major extraction strategies, namely aqueous and solvent extraction, aqueous extraction brewing provides ready-to-drink tea beverages, whereas solvent extraction allows further exploration of white tea applications. Several factors, including liquid properties, solid-to-liquid ratio, temperature, and extraction time, have been reported to play a crucial role in extraction efficiency. Given that extraction efficiency is influenced by the properties of white tea materials, it is essential to determine the optimal conditions for each specific tea sample of interest. Furthermore, continued research into novel extraction techniques to improve the extraction efficiency of white tea is warranted. It is worth noting that the application of white tea in food is relatively limited compared to other common teas, and therefore the antioxidant and antimicrobial effects of white tea in a variety of food systems should be evaluated and its efficacy compared to other teas should be investigated. With regard to therapeutic applications of white tea extract, current studies rely primarily on cell- or animal-based model systems, with limited information on the practical functions of white tea
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