Here Is Why People Should Never Try Making “Noon Chai” From Quince Leaves?

Umran Hussain

A woman from Kashmir preparing “Noon Chai” by using quince leaves in a video wins internet users’ applause for being innovative.

The video which is now viral on social media, with a section of journalists discussing this innovation with some scientists and professors in the universities in Kashmir has already garnered million of views on various social media platforms.

The thunderous applause for the women is quite genuine, but at the same time, as the saying goes, “never mess with science untill you atleast know the basics of it,” should also be kept in mind before we endorse a concoction which is yet to receive a nod from the scientific community.

Before we go into the scientific part of tea making, let’s have a look at the history of making tea from quince leaves:

Mogwa-cha or quince tea is a is originally a  traditional Korean tea made with Chinese quince. Most commonly, mogwa-cha is prepared by mixing hot water with mogwa-cheong (quince preserved in honey or sugar). Alternatively, it can also be made by boiling dried quince in water or mixing powdered dried quince with hot water.

It is clear from the above information that quince tea is not a new thing, but something which people have been using since times immemorial. You can now easily say that “preparing tea by using quince leaves is not a new invention.”

The Korean Tea or Mogwa-Cha is not prepared by adding baking soda to it.

A very important point that deserves utmost attention is that the Korean Quince tea is not prepared by adding baking soda to it. In contrast to that, Noon Chai is not Noon Chai unless baking soda is added to it and this ingredient actually makes it pink in color. The women in the video could make it pink and give it a look of original Kashmiri Noon Chai only after adding baking soda and no such ingredient is found in quince leaves which can make its final solution pink in color.

Why People Should Never Try Making “Noon Chai” From Quince Leaves?

Scientists after using all their expertise, time and energy make the final products of their experiments available for consumption or usage by humans. Since ‘Noon Chai’ is a traditional tea beverage prepared exclusively in Kashmir, no high level scientific experiments have been carried out about its benefits and disadvantages expect a few expert advices on the usage and consumption of baking soda that we add to it.

“Since Noon Chai is high in salt and contains baking soda, when taken in mornings in an empty stomach, it is reported that it increases the risks of gastric cancer and Kashmir is high prevalence zone for gastric cancer.” Is a fact about our Noon Chai that doctors always warn us about.

“The final result of adding salt and baking soda to quince leaves and then boiling them together is something which needs thorough experimentation, and its consumption without a nod from the scientific community may prove detrimental. A liquid with pink color is not always ‘Noon Chai’ it can be a poison too.”  Said Dr. Gulzar Nayik,  a Food Technology Expert.

Here is why quince tea can be dangerous?

Though There isn’t enough information to know if quince is safe for medicinal use. The seeds contain cyanide, which suggests that quince seeds might not be safe and what if we end up making a solution that is rich in cyanide, because the leaves me quince too may contain the traces of cyanide in them.

The tea leaves we use undergo a thorough processing first. Leaves are not directly used to prepare tea. Here is the procedure:

First excess moisture is removed from tea leaves, this process is called withering. The leaves are laid out on a wire mesh and left to dry for 18-20 hours. This is the easiest method or “natural withering”.

Withered tea is ready to be curled. In a roller drum tea is continuously pressed and rotated. The purpose of this operation is to deform cells of tea leaves at molecular level to release catechin compounds and enzymes that later will give to tea its unique flavor.

Curled parts of tea leaves are then fed into a special machine that simultaneously crushes and sifts them – thus tea is cooled and ventilated.

Then comes one of the most important steps called fermentation. Tea is laid out on tables or grids in the area with controlled temperature and oxygen supply. This process forms flavor and aroma of tea.

Afterwards tea is dried so that it can preserve its quality during long-term storage: tea is put into a drying chamber with very hot air and then is rapidly cooled.

Dry tea is sorted on vibrating sieves that have meshes of different diameters that separate tea leaves of uniform shape and size.