Effect of white tea (camellia sinensis) on cognitive performance

Cognitive performance is the ability to utilize the knowledge acquired by mental processes in our brains. White tea contains caffeine, L-theanine amino acid, and catechin which are known as brain function enhancer. This study examined the effect of white tea towards attention, alertness, simple reaction time, and short term memory. Research subjects were 30 males aged between 18-25 years old. Subjects were assigned to do examination before and 30 minutes after receiving 2 grams of brewed white tea. Data was analyzed with paired t test (α=0.05). Results showed that on attention examination, average time needed to solve labyrinth test was shortened from 12.01 seconds to 9.30 seconds (p<0.01). Alertness was measured with matching letters test, average time needed to solve the test was shortened from 140.07 seconds to 120.53 seconds (p<0.01). Reaction time was measured by visual chronoscope using red, blue, green, and yellow as stimulation. Simple reaction time for all colors were enhanced with p<0.01. Short term memory on textual stimulation was also enhanced from 83% correct answers to 97% (p<0.01). On visual stimulation, correct answers were increased from 71% to 89% (p<0.01). While on audio stimulation, correct answers were increased from 69% to 83% (p<0.01). Conclusion is consumption of white tea enhances cognitive performance.