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Native holly an antioxidant source

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 11, 2009

Coffee and tea could have some local competition.

A University of Florida study says a native holly tree called yaupon can be used to make a drink similar to green tea.
Botany Professor Jack Putz says the ornamental holly is the only plant in the United States that produces substantial amounts of caffeine. It grows wild throughout the Southeast.

Putz warns that not all holly species are safe for consumption.

The yaupon twig leaf brew, once made by American Indians and Spanish settlers, is notable because of the presence of antioxidants. A study Putz recently co-authored in the journal Economic Botany also found that nitrogen fertilizer can boost yaupon production and caffeine content.

That could create a market for commercially grown yaupon for beverages or nutritional supplements, he says.

Unprocessed, yaupon leaves have more than half the caffeine of coffee beans. Tea leaves contain about four or five times the caffeine of yaupon leaves.

A staff report

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