>>> THE HONEYBUSH STORY....
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Research on honeybush tea processing In the Garcia Pass near Riversdale, there are remnants of ovens dating back to the 1890s that were probably used to prepare traditional honeybush tea, i.e., the fermented product. The warming drawers of coal stoves were also used to ferment the plant material for domestic use. In 1993, farmer Johan Beyers started with the fermentation of
C. subternata on a 'commercial scale' in ovens as an alternative to the traditional fermentation ('curing') heaps used in the Langkloof at that time. However, processing of traditional honeybush tea through primitive, fermentation heaps or in ovens and sun-drying delivered products of poor microbial and sensory quality.
Professor Lizette Joubert – a pioneer in honeybush processing and product research Since 1994, Prof
Lizette Joubert from ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij, spearheaded novel research on processing, the phenolic composition, health-promoting properties, value-addition and the sensory properties of honeybush tea. She and her
team members collaborated with  researchers at other research organisations, including
the Medical Research Council of South Africa, University of the Free State and Stellenbosch
University (SU), as well as international scientists. Outputs from these projects are described in research articles by Joubert and her research collaborators.
Prof Lizette Joubert, pioneer of honeybush product and processing research at ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij.
Photo supplied by ARC.
Under her leadership, controlled processing of honeybush tea was explored, refined and placed in practice. In 1994, Prof Lizette Joubert (ARC) did preliminary experiments to set the scene for an MSc study by Jaco du Toit (SU) during 1995 to 1996. Under her guidance, Du Toit investigated controlled honeybush tea processing and the first guidelines for processing were established. Controlled high-temperature fermentation was shown to be essential for a good quality product. Several processors attempted the use of a variety of static heating vessels. However, these vessels resulted in poor heat transfer and distribution. Previously, Joubert successfully applied the concept of rotary drum fermentation to rooibos. She subsequently advised the use of this technique for honeybush tea processing to achieve uniform and controlled high-temperature fermentation. In 1998, the first prototype rotary fermentation drum was built by TFD Designs, Stellenbosch, and exhibited during a honeybush farmers' day in the Langkloof. Rotary fermentation eventually became the industry norm. During 1998, Joubert produced the first batches of green honeybush on an experimental basis. To process green or 'unfermented' honeybush tea, the green plant material is cut and dried without fermentation. Research on green honeybush tea remains a prominent component of the work by Prof Lizette Joubert in collaboration with her colleagues at national and international institutions. This includes the production of extracts with high levels of specific bioactive compounds, modification of the aroma profile of green honeybush to enhance sweet, fruity notes and the investigation on health-promoting properties. | | A lasting honeybush legacy
* What is in a name?
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From crop to cup * First records of a local cottage industry
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Dr Hannes de Lange: A reflection on the pioneering days
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Commercialisation of Cyclopia genistoides – a story that originated at the foot of Table Mountain
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The advancing role of research in growing the honeybush industry
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Research on honeybush cultivation
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Research on honeybush tea processing
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Local growth and the start of an international footprint
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Looking into the future … Dr Hannes de Lange, Pioneer of the formal honeybush industry, December 2020
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A vision for the honeybush industry: Joyene Isaacs, chairperson Agricultural Research Council Board | Former HOD Western Cape Department of Agriculture, March 2021
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A honeybush timeline: milestones, highlights and interesting snippets
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Sources of information
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Acknowledgements
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Honeybush Homepage ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
One of the regular visits to Prof Lizette Joubert by
her international research collaborators from Tokyo University of
Agriculture and Technology,
Fuchu, Japan, in 2017 to learn more about
honeybush tea. Fltr: Japanese post-graduate students, Oji Nakamura and
Kazunobu Okon,
Prof Lizette Joubert, Prof Yutaka Miura, Marlise Joubert.
Photo supplied by Lizette Joubert.
Ongoing research into
the many health-promoting properties of honeybush tea contributed to
increased awareness and appreciation from international tea markets.
This included research into the potential of honeybush to combat cancer
and diabetes, the therapeutic potential of its phytoestrogens, and its
confirmed status as a caffeine-free tea. Understanding the complex blend
of compounds that occur in honeybush, and the synergistic health
effects of these compounds, remain a key focus of product-orientated
honeybush research under the leadership of Prof Lizette Joubert.
Apart from distinguishing honeybush from rooibos and other herbal teas,
the phytochemical profiles of
Cyclopia species also give direction to potential value-addition opportunities and the development of niche products.
Professor Dalene De Beer,
specialist researcher at ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij, joined Joubert's
research team in 2006. As part of the Plant Bioactives Group of the
Post-Harvest and Agro-Processing Technologies Division, they have been
heading numerous research activities elucidating the phenolic
composition of different
Cyclopia species to guide value-addition and
evaluation of bioactivity aimed at nutraceutical development. De Beer
plays an important role in unravelling the phenolic composition of
Cyclopia species and investigations into the effect of processing on these important phytochemicals.
Prof Dalene de Beer, specialist researcher in
the analytical laboratory of the Plant Bioactives Group of the
Post-Harvest and Agro-Processing Technologies Division, ARC
Infruitec-Nietvoorbij. Her research focuses on the development of
analytical techniques to measure phenolic compounds in honeybush to
determine differences between
Cyclopia species and selections, and the effects of food processing on honeybush-related products. Photo supplied by ARC.
From the beginning of her honeybush research
journey, Prof Lizette Joubert had the vision to improve honeybush tea
quality through optimisation of processing conditions and to develop a
quality grading system that would aid processors in ensuring that tea of
good and consistent sensory quality reaches the consumer. From 2010,
novel sensory research on honeybush tea in collaboration with SU was led
by sensory scientist and principal researcher,
Nina Muller, and was proceeded by
Dr Erika Moelich, principal researcher and current technical
manager of the Sensory Research Facility at the Department of Food
Science. Over the past decade, the optimum aroma, flavour and taste of
honeybush tea, as well as sensory differences between species were
established through cutting-edge sensory research. Sensory quality
control tools, such the
honeybush sensory wheels and lexicon, have been developed for the industry. In 2021, the
first quality grading manual,
'Grading of fermented honeybush tea – an illustrated guide', compiled
by Prof Lizette Joubert and Nina Muller, was published for industry role
players, including honeybush processors, quality control personnel and marketers. The manual is based on research by
Dr Brigitte du Preez as part of her PhD degree in Food Science.
In
2009, Prof Joubert and Dr de Lange jointly received the
'Indigenous Plant Use Forum Plant-to-Product Award' for their
contribution to the commercialisation of honeybush tea. In 2018, she
received an honorary medal from the 'SA Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns, Fakulteit Natuurwetenskap en Tegnologie'
for her contribution to rooibos and honeybush tea product research. In
2019, her contribution to plant-to-product research to further the
honeybush industry was recognised by SAHTA, when she was named honorary
member of SAHTA. To date, Dr de Lange, Dr Bester and Prof Joubert are
the only SAHTA honorary members.
As
one of the pioneer researchers of honeybush since 1994, Prof
Lizette Joubert is continuing heading invaluable product-orientated
research, including that of novel processing methods of honeybush tea.
George Dico, technical
assistant at ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij, and Joubert's right-hand in
producing tea batches on laboratory scale for research over the past
10-plus years. Photo by Brigitte du Preez. | | 
Dr Brigitte du Preez obtained
her PhD in 2020 for her work on developing a quality grading system for
fermented honeybush tea to evaluate and communicate sensory quality.
Photo by Anton Jordaan. |
