Tea Time: How the temperature of your tea affects biofilm colonization

 By: Angelica Leos

 Graphs A and B show the effect on glucosyltransferase (GTP) production by S. mutans and CFU counts respectively, after treatment with different steeping conditions of green and black tea. Figure taken from Kim et al. 2020.

Oral biofilms are responsible for infectious dental diseases such as periodontitis and peri-implantitis that lead to the loss of teeth. The primary bacterial pathogens that cause these disease along with others are Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus (Kim et al., 2020). A study performed by Kim and colleagues focused on the effects of tea extracts on oral biofilm colonization depending on the difference in steeping temperature. The researchers use two types of tea extract: green tea and black tea. The tea extracts were each prepared with a hot steeping and a cold steeping for a total of four treatments total. The researchers found that while both tea extracts decreased the total biofilm biomass of both strains, both tea extracts showed higher inhibition of the pathogens when prepared with hot steeping. This means that tea extracts prepared with hot steepings were more effective in the prevention of the establishment of Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus. This data emphasizes the potential role of natural foods in the prevention of pathogen-causing diseases for dental cavities. It is important to consider how the preparation of food and drinks can play a larger role in the microbial environments of the human body in order to combat disease and take care of overall human health.

Original Article:

 Mi-Ah Kim, Jae-Hwan Kim & Ok Hyung Nam (2020) Tea extracts differentially inhibit Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus biofilm colonization depending on the steeping temperature, Biofouling, 36:3, 256-265