Ukrainian chemist checks for bugs in packaged tea (video)

From time to time, various information about teabags appears on social media, including information that beetles or their remains can be found there. Hlib Repich, a Ukrainian scientist with a Ph.D. in chemistry, decided to conduct an experiment to see if it was true.

The chemist posted a video of his research on his Instagram. To do this, he took three tea bags from different manufacturers.

First, he cut open the tea bags and poured their contents into a transparent saucer, pointing the phone's camera at the granules, Repich showed that there was nothing there. One sample contained some light granules, but they were bergamot flavorings. "No large insects were found," he commented.

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Eventually, the scientist managed to refute the common myth after looking at the tea granules under a microscope.

"No, these are not insect legs, they are plant fibers of tea leaves. In all three samples, I did not find any insects," he commented on the tea he examined under the microscope.

At the same time, Repic added that he had found a scientific article in which scientists reported that they had found thousands of genetic materials from thousands of different insect species in tea.

"In fact, I found a scientific article in which German scientists found in ordinary tea the genetic material of thousands of different species of insects that actually live on this tea. And then, you know, the process of collecting, grinding... So, in fact, anything can happen," Repich added.

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The study to which Repich refers was published in Biology Letters in June 2022. It was entitled "The bug in a teacup - monitoring arthropod-plant associations with environmental DNA from dried plant material".

This study states that German researchers have identified more than a thousand species of insects, spiders, mites, and other bugs from the DNA they leave in your cup of tea. Using a new method of DNA analysis, they examined dried teas and dried herbs that can be found in supermarkets, such as chamomile, mint, chai, and parsley. Among the species found were some known pests.

Earlier, Repich explained how to easily get rid of the bitterness in grapefruit.

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