The antibacterial and antioxidant activity of the tea bag and the bulk of herbal tea: Which one is more?

This study aimed to compare the antibacterial (using the disc diffusion method) and antioxidant (using the FRAP method) properties of tea bag herbal tea and bulk herbal tea of linden and thyme against Streptococcus mutans, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis. It has been observed that the antibacterial activity of bulk herbal tea of linden is higher than that of tea bags of herbal tea, and even the tea bags of herbal tea have no antibacterial effect on the test microorganisms except S. aureus. However, when tea bags of herbal tea and bulk herbal tea of linden were analysed in terms of antioxidant properties, it was determined that the antioxidant activity of tea bags of herbal tea was higher than that of bulk herbal tea. Analyses of thyme extract showed that the antibacterial activity of bulk herbal tea was relatively higher than that of tea bags of herbal tea. Considering the antibacterial activity of the bulk and tea bag form of thyme herbal tea of the same brand, the bulk herbal tea showed higher antibacterial activity than the tea bag of herbal tea, and even the tea bag of herbal tea had no antibacterial effect on the test microorganisms except S. aureus and S. epidermidis.