GUWAHATI: The All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA) and the Andrew Yule & Company Ltd (AYCL) have come together to undertake a research on the health benefits of tea and explore its Ayurvedic applications.
Towards this end, they signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the presence of Ayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
The collaboration is aimed at discovering the health benefits of tea, including exploring the possibility of its applications in the Ayurvedic line of medication and treatments, an official statement said on Thursday.
According to the agreement, an expert team from AIIA will collect tea samples from the AYCL tea estates for undertaking necessary lab research. The AYCL, which is a Government of India enterprise, has seven tea estates in Assam.
Sonowal said tea has many proven health benefits which must be studied scientifically.
“This agreement is an attempt to scientifically catalogue the various health benefits of tea as well as explore possibilities of tea’s application in providing Ayurvedic medicine,” he said.
He also said that under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Centre is empowering the traditional knowledge of medicine like Ayurveda with a scientific validation, through modern research and development approach.
“This has enabled our rich heritage of Ayurveda and other traditional forms of medicine to provide solutions to a wider range of ailments and allowing people to enrich their quality of lives,” Sonowal said.
He also said that as India reinvents itself under the leadership of Modi, tea, which is one of the mainstays of Assam, is set to unlock its potential as a natural ingredient towards Ayurvedic formulations.
He was hopeful that tourism in Assam is set to boom with the healing touch of Ayurveda and Yoga in the pristine lap of tea gardens.
“Tea gardens have ma esmerising effect by rejuvenating the health and mind of any individual. With this collaboration, we are unrolling a possibility of a booming tourism industry in Assam,” Sonowal said.
“With its numerous commercial viability and soothing effect, tea is set to draw strength from Ayurveda, our rich heritage, and provide a platform for Assam towards becoming a new destination of healing tourism,” he added.
