The health benefits found in green tea are affected by changes in temperature and humidity, according to researcher said Lisa Mauer, a professor of food science, is a report published on the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry’s website.

Mauer said that raising the temperature helped hasten the degradation of catechins. Raising the humidity also has the same effect to a lesser degree. 

“People drink green tea for health benefits, so they want the catechins to be present,” Mauer wrote. “The instant powder beverages are becoming more popular for consumers, and it’s important to know how storage can influence nutrition of your products.” 

Mauer discovered that green tea powder loses its benefits at lower temperatures that previously noted.

“Tea powders are not infinitely stable below their glass transition temperature,” she said. “They degrade more slowly below that temperature, but they can still degrade. Knowing what’s happening to the ingredients is extremely important for understanding the quality of a food or beverage product.”