HONEYBUSH

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Honeybush (Cyclopia spp।) is indigenous to the cape of South Africa (1, 2). It is used to make a beverage and a medicinal tea, having a pleasant, mildly sweet taste and aroma, somewhat like honey. It has become internationally known as a substitute for ordinary tea (Camellia sinensis). It grows only in a small area in the southwest of South Afrika in the Langkloof area of the Eastern Cape. Honeybush is so named because the flowers smell of honey। The taste of honeybush tea is similar to that of rooibos but a little sweeter.
HEALTH EFFECTS:
Honeybush tea is made as a simple herbal infusion. One of its early recognized benefits as a tea substitute is its lack of caffeine, which makes it especially suited for nighttime consumption and for those who experience nervousness and want to avoid ordinary tea. As a result, it had a reputation as a calming beverage, though it may not have any specific sedative properties. It also has a low content of tannins, so it doesn't make a highly astringent tea, which can be a problem with some grades of black or green tea or when ordinary tea is steeped too long.
The traditional use of the tea for treating cough may be explained, in part, by its content of pinitol, a modified sugar (a methyl group replaces hydrogen in one position of glucose). Pinitol, named for its major source, pine trees, is also found in the leaves of several legume plants; it is an expectorant. Pinitol is also of interest for apparent blood-sugar lowering effects and is being considered as a drug for diabetes. Honeybush also contains flavones, isoflavones, coumestans, luteolin, 4-hydroxycinnamic acid, polyphenols, and xanthones. These ingredients serve as antioxidants and may help lower blood lipids. The isoflavones and coumestans are classified as phytoestrogens, used in the treatment of menopausal symptoms, an application for which honeybush has recently been promoted. The flavones and isoflavones of honeybush are similar to those in soy, another leguminous plant, also used in treatment of menopausal symptoms. Luteolin is the primary yellow pigment of the flowers and has been used historically as a dye.