“For tea agroforest, there’s less of a drop in the level of epigallocatechin gallate and other catechins, compared to the terraced gardens,” she says.

In 2017, Ranatunga and his colleagues showed that high levels of one such molecule, epicatechin, and low levels of another, epigallocatechin gallate, helped to protect the leaves of green-tea plants from blister blight, a disease caused by the fungus Exobasidium vexans2.

For example, research shows that matcha contains at least three times the epigallocatechin gallate as steeped green tea.

Green tea is rich in epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG, a polyphenol that has intense antioxidant powers, helping to protect your DNA from free radical damage, according to the National Cancer Institute.

The major nutrients in green tea, epigallocatechin gallate and epicatechin gallate, may trigger excessive cell death, called apoptosis, in high doses, the study suggests.