再生 Upcycling & extraction

More value from the whole tea tree, not just the leaf tip

NeoTea is building an upcycling program that recovers high-value compounds from tea leaves and tea-tree byproducts — turning material that would otherwise be waste into purified functional ingredients.

工程 How it works

From byproduct to purified ingredient

A scientific value-add chain that treats tea-tree material as a resource, not a waste stream.

01

Collect

Leaves and tea-tree byproducts are gathered as feedstock for upcycling.

02

Extract

Target compounds are extracted from the plant material.

03

Purify

Extracts are refined and purified toward defined ingredient grades.

04

Apply

Finished ingredients go into food, nutrition and beverage products.

成分 The two headline ingredients

Catechins and L-theanine

The most valuable compounds we recover from tea leaves and their byproducts.

Catechins / Tea polyphenols

The polyphenol fraction of green tea (EGCG-type)

Uses

  • Nutritional supplements
  • Health-food ingredients
  • Standardised extract for food & beverage formulators

Advantages

  • Polyphenol-rich; studied for antioxidant activity in vitro
  • Extensively researched, well-characterised tea compound
  • Strong and growing market demand

L-theanine

The savoury-sweet amino acid of fine tea

Uses

  • Premium, mildly sweet flavour modifier
  • Food additive to mask bitterness and round flavour
  • Functional-beverage ingredient

Advantages

  • Mild, clean flavour
  • Well-tolerated amino acid, naturally present in tea
  • Broad, growing application across categories
Route A · here

L-theanine, recovered from tea

On this page, L-theanine is purified from tea material — tea-native, suited to a natural-origin, circular story, and limited by available leaf.

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Route B · biosynthesis

L-theanine, built by enzymes

We are also developing an enzymatic synthesis route → that builds the identical molecule for scale and consistency. Fermentation-made theanine is chemically identical but would not be labelled "from tea".

L-theanine is positioned as a premium flavour-modifying and functional ingredient — used in small amounts to round sweetness and soften bitterness — rather than as a bulk sweetener. This is a developing R&D and pilot programme: regulatory status, permitted use levels and origin/label claims are confirmed per market and application, and we make no medical, therapeutic or disease-related claims for these ingredients.

要点 Why work with us on this

Sustainable inputs, high-value outputs

Circular by design

Value is drawn from tea-tree material that would otherwise be discarded.

Purified to grade

Extraction and purification target defined, repeatable ingredient specifications.

High added value

Low-cost inputs become functional ingredients with strong market pull.

Built for B2B

Aimed squarely at food manufacturers, nutrition companies and beverage brands.

応用 Where these ingredients land

Three industries we're building supply for

Food manufacturers

Polyphenol-rich fractions and flavour modifiers for formulated food products.

Nutrition companies

Catechin and theanine ingredients for supplements and health-food formats.

Beverage companies

Functional-beverage inputs — from bitterness masking to signature functional drinks.

供給 Ingredient supply & development

Building a supply line? Let's talk specs

Tell us the compound, purity grade, volume and application, and we'll work through feasibility, pilot supply and specifications with you.