''Nekemias grossedentata'',Wen J, Nie ZL (2014) ''PhytoKeys'' 42: 16. known as moyeam, is a species of plant in the family

Vitaceae The Vitaceae are a family of flowering plants, with 14 genera and around 910 known species, including common plants such as grapevines (''Vitis'' spp.) and Virginia creeper (''Parthenocissus quinquefolia''). The family name is derived from the ge ...

. It is mainly distributed in central and southern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

.Plants of the World Online: ''Macaranga (retrieved 9 August 2021)
/ref> The leaves and stems are used to make a herbal tea called "moyeam". The product has been popular in China for generations and is now consumed in some other countries . The

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

name "moyeam" comes from the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

name "茅岩莓" (Pinyin:máo yán méi). Most moyeam is grown in

Zhangjiajie Zhangjiajie (), also known in Tujia language as ''Zhangx jif avlar'' /dzaŋ˩ ji˥ a˩.la˥/, is a prefecture-level city in the northwestern part of Hunan Province, China. It comprises the district of Yongding, Wulingyuan and counties of Cili a ...

, a mountainous region in

Hunan Province Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi t ...

in central China.

Plant features

Moyeam germinates in the

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

and fades in the

autumn Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September ( Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Sou ...

. There is no significant difference between its primary and secondary

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...

s. Stems and leaves are glabrous, and stem

diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid for ...

is about . The largest annual production is in early summer, followed by autumn. Average annual growth is . The dorsal leaves are gray in the spring. Leaflets are thin, papery, or

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

, long, narrow, oblong, oval or needle-shaped. Their margins are coarsely toothed. Young stems and leaves are light reddish purple.

Production and processing

The method of processing this plant was developed by the

Tujia Tujia may refer to: *the Tujia people *the Tujia language The Tujia language (Northern Tujia: Bifzivsar, ; Southern Tujia: Mongrzzirhof, ; ) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken natively by the Tujia people in Hunan Province, China. It is unclassif ...

minority group The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...

600 years ago. It involves plucking, withering, rolling, and fermenting the leaves. The fresh leaves should be withered within five hours to avoid oxidization and loss of

nutrients A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi, and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...

. The rolling step produces its distinctive "white frost" color and enhances the flavor. Unoxidized "white" moyeam is also produced, but the more demanding production process for white moyeam (similar to the method by which

green tea Green tea is a type of tea that is made from '' Camellia sinensis'' leaves and buds that have not undergone the same withering and oxidation process which is used to make oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China, and since the ...

is produced) makes it more expensive than traditional moyeam. Its distinctive taste is slightly bitter with a strongly sweet aftertaste; the slightly grassy flavor is somewhat different from other common teas in China.

Use

In Tujia settlements, it is common to prepare this tea in a similar manner as green tea and drink it directly for a naturally sweet flavor.

Nutritional values and chemical composition

Moyeam is rich in flavonoids, primarily

dihydromyricetin Ampelopsin, also known as dihydromyricetin and DHM, when purported as an effective ingredient in supplements and other tonics, is a flavanonol, a type of flavonoid. It is extracted from the Japanese raisin tree and found in ''Ampelopsis'' species ...

; the average level in this plant can reach 40%. It is becoming more popular with

people, particularly among health-conscious consumers, due to its high level of flavonoids. It does not contain the

antioxidant Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit oxidation, a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals. This can lead to polymerization and other chain reactions. They are frequently added to industrial products, such as fuels and lubricant ...

epigallocatechin-3-gallate Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), also known as epigallocatechin-3-gallate, is the ester of epigallocatechin and gallic acid, and is a type of catechin. EGCG – the most abundant catechin in tea – is a polyphenol under basic research for its ...

(EGCG) found in green tea.

Geographical environment

Moyeam grows in Zhangjiajie's high mountains at 800–1500 m in elevation. The water, air and soil are isolated from contamination. The red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

soil is rich in

, which is very conducive to the formation of

flavonoids Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans. Chemically, flavonoids ...

vitamins A vitamin is an organic molecule (or a set of molecules closely related chemically, i.e. vitamers) that is an essential micronutrient that an organism needs in small quantities for the proper functioning of its metabolism. Essential nutrien ...

and trace elements in this plant. Similar plants are also found in other provinces of China, mainly south of the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

River. A few studies have also mentioned its growth in southeast

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

countries.

History

In 1385, it was given to the king of the Tujia minority as a present that was claimed to cure diseases. At that time, it was named "heaven tea". In 1837, during the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, it was given to the Emperor of China as a present from the Tujia. The Emperor found that the tea had amazing health effects, so he ordered that the tea be exclusively for himself. Moyeam is still made using the 600-year-old method of the Tujia. It is said that only females are taught how to make it.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q42811106, from2=Q11089168 grossedentata Crops originating from China Chinese cuisine Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine