Recipe
Jiaogulan tea
- Herb:
- Jiaogulan Gynostemma pentaphyllum
- Method:
- Herbal infusion (tea)
- Plant part:
- Leaf
About 10 minBeginnerRecipe science profile
Procedure
- Pour 250 ml of water at 80–90 °C, not boiling, over a teaspoon of dried jiaogulan leaves.
- Steep 3–5 minutes; the first infusion is the bitterest and can be poured off in favour of the second.
- Strain and drink warm or chilled; the leaves take 2–3 infusions.
- At most 3 cups a day; as a course 2–3 months, then a break.
Extraction
- Herb:
- 1 teaspoon (about 2 g) of dried leaves per 250 ml
- Solvent:
- water at 80–90 °C, 3–5 minutes; can be infused 2–3 times
- Shelf life:
- drink within 12 hours
- Target compounds:
- gypenosides (dammarane saponins) and flavonoids enter hot water; a bittersweet taste
Notes
A bitter-sweet caffeine-free infusion. People with diabetes on medication: in a small trial jiaogulan lowered blood glucose — monitor values and talk to a doctor. No data in pregnancy or breastfeeding; better skip.
Why it works
Jiaogulan leaves contain gypenosides, dammarane saponins related to the ginsenosides of ginseng — hence the nickname 'southern ginseng'. The small randomised trial by Huyen et al. 2010 in 24 drug-naive type 2 diabetics found, after 12 weeks of 6 g of tea daily, fasting glucose about 3 mmol/l lower and HbA1c about 2 percentage points lower than placebo; the trial is small and the only one of its kind. The review by Li et al. 2025 summarises the remaining data as mostly preclinical. The tea is a traditional drink with one promising but unreplicated clinical signal.
Literature
- Huyen VTT, Phan DV, Thang P, Hoa NK, Östenson CG (2010): Antidiabetic Effect of Gynostemma pentaphyllum Tea in Randomly Assigned Type 2 Diabetic Patients. Hormone and Metabolic Research 42(5):353–357 — 24 patients, 6 g of tea daily for 12 weeks; reduced fasting glucose and HbA1c compared with placebo.
- Li Y et al. (2025): Gynostemma pentaphyllum: A review on its traditional uses, phytochemistry and pharmacology. Journal of Functional Foods 124:106651 — Review of gypenosides and predominantly preclinical data.
Related
Jiaogulan — Herb card
Herbal infusion (tea) — Processing method detail