The rooibos plant (Aspalathus linearis or literally translated; red bush) is a hardy shrub indigenous to the north Western Cape of South Africa. It grows exclusively in the stunning Cederberg Mountains in the region surrounding the town of Clanwilliam. The area has an average annual rainfall of around 30 cms; the soil is a pale golden sand, almost devoid of nutrients with virtually no potassium or nitrogen. The soil is also very acidic with a pH of about 3.8 – 4.2: a typical English loam by comparison is for example about pH 6 – 7, almost neutral. So how has red bush survived for so many centuries?

The secret may lie in its extraordinarily long taproot, which ensures that the plant is extremely drought resistant. Even as tiny seedlings the roots can reach 30cms into the ground (see picture) and up to 2m in length as a fully-grown bush. Rooibos is also a legume, and as such is able to bind its own nitrogen, the crops are never fertilised, rather every few years the plantations are left fallow, giving the soil time to rest before replanting in later years. As if all this wasn’t enough the Redbush plant is one of the few that has made the transition from wild plant to a commercially cultivated crop. During this time it has never been modified or subjected to hybridisation in any way, it is and will continue to remain GMO free.

Rooibos or red bush tea is rapidly growing in popularity due not only of course to its delicious taste but also as a result of the growing evidence that it has no known side effects. We now know that this remarkable plant produces a unique beverage that is completely and naturally caffeine free and therefore undergoes no chemical process to extract caffeine. It also contains on average less than half the tannin of regular tea (Camellia Sinensis). Scientific research has also proven that Redbush Tea is rich in antioxidants, including the flavonoids quercetin and luteolin. Nobel Prize winning laureate Albert Szent Gyorgy discovered bioflavonoids in the 1930’s; quercetin is one of the most pharmacologically active flavonoids. It also has a synergistic relationship with Vitamin C; basically if you take the two together they can enhance the efficacy of each other. Contrary to some reports a finished cup of rooibos tea does not contain any vitamin C, as it is destroyed by high heat – hence when you add freshly boiled water you are killing the vitamin C.

The flavonoids quercetin, luteolin, orientin, iso-orientin, vitexin and iso-vitexin contribute towards the overall antioxidant content of rooibos. Not only is rooibos extremely rich in flavonoids but it also contains aspalathin, an antioxidant which has not been identified in any other source. Recent Japanese studies have also established that rooibos contains a naturally occurring mimic of super oxide dismutase (S.O.D), which is another powerful antioxidant. The average 150ml cup of rooibos contains around 1.5mg of quercetin.