MatchaDB

Research

The Global Matcha Research Library

641 papers, trials, theses and preprints that study matcha, gathered from PubMed, OpenAlex and Europe PMC, tagged by study type and topic, and linked back to every source. We keep abstracts and citations; the full text stays with its publisher.

Tip: use "quotes" for an exact phrase, OR between alternatives, and a minus to leave a word out, for example fluoride OR pesticide. Related words are matched too, so “EGCG” also finds “epigallocatechin.”

15 studies match for “glutamate”

2024Journal articleFree to read

Effect of matcha green tea on cognitive functions and sleep quality in older adults with cognitive decline: A randomized controlled study over 12 months.

Uchida K, Meno K, Korenaga T, et al. — PloS one

Objective: Lifestyle habits after middle age significantly impact the maintenance of cognitive function in older adults. Nutritional intake is closely related to lifestyle habits; therefore, nutrition is a pivotal factor in the prevention…

Randomized controlled trialCognition, mood and stressAntioxidants and polyphenolsL-theanine and caffeineCited 25×
2024Journal articleFree to read

Matcha Does Not Affect Electroencephalography during Sleep but May Enhance Mental Well-Being: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.

Baba Y, Takihara T, Okamura N — Nutrients

Although theanine in matcha improves sleep quality and cognitive function, the caffeine in green tea is thought to worsen sleep quality. Therefore, this study investigated the factors behind the observed improvements in subjective sleep…

Randomized controlled trialCognition, mood and stressAntioxidants and polyphenolsL-theanine and caffeineCited 8×
2018Journal articleFree to read

Stress-Reducing Function of Matcha Green Tea in Animal Experiments and Clinical Trials.

Unno K, Furushima D, Hamamoto S, et al. — Nutrients

Theanine, a major amino acid in green tea, exhibits a stress-reducing effect in mice and humans. Matcha, which is essentially theanine-rich powdered green tea, is abundant in caffeine. Caffeine has a strong antagonistic effect against…

Randomized controlled trialCognition, mood and stressAntioxidants and polyphenolsL-theanine and caffeineCited 84×
2026Journal articleFree to read

Matcha as a Source of Bioactive Compounds: A Review of Health-Promoting Properties and Potential Applications.

Sławińska P, Raczkowska E — Nutrients

Matcha, a finely milled powdered green tea originating from Japan, is characterized by a unique cultivation method in which tea plants are shaded prior to harvest. This practice enhances the accumulation of chlorophyll, caffeine,…

ReviewCognition, mood and stressMetabolism and weightAntioxidants and polyphenolsCited 2×
2021Journal articleFree to read

Matcha consumption maintains attentional function following a mild acute psychological stress without affecting a feeling of fatigue: A randomized placebo-controlled study in young adults.

Baba Y, Kaneko T, Takihara T — Nutrition research (New York, N.Y.)

Tea is a beverage commonly consumed worldwide. Matcha is a type of green tea produced by drying and grinding tea leaves (Camellia sinensis L.) into a fine powder. Matcha contains catechin, theanine, and caffeine, which affect cognitive…

Randomized controlled trialCognition, mood and stressAntioxidants and polyphenolsL-theanine and caffeineCited 29×
2017Journal articleFree to read

An intervention study on the effect of matcha tea, in drink and snack bar formats, on mood and cognitive performance.

Dietz C, Dekker M, Piqueras-Fiszman B — Food research international (Ottawa, Ont.)

Matcha tea is gaining popularity throughout the world in recent years and is frequently referred to as a mood-and-brain food. Previous research has demonstrated that three constituents present in matcha tea, l-theanine, epigallocatechin…

Randomized controlled trialCognition, mood and stressAntioxidants and polyphenolsL-theanine and caffeineCited 66×
2025Journal articleFree to read

A Shading-Responsive bHLH Transcription Factor (CsPIF7) Promotes Theanine Biosynthesis in Tea Plants (Camellia sinensis).

Li L, Ye S, Chen F, et al. — Plant, cell & environment

Shading is a widely applied strategy to increase theanine and chlorophyll levels in tea leaves during matcha production. However, the regulatory mechanism of theanine accumulation under shading conditions remains elusive. Through…

Agronomy / cultivationL-theanine and caffeineCultivation and shadingProcessing, milling and qualityCited 10×
2024Journal articleFree to read

Stress-Relieving Effects of Green Tea Depend on the Ratio of Its Special Ingredients and the Infusion Conditions.

Unno K, Taguchi K, Matsuda T, et al. — Molecules (Basel, Switzerland)

Theanine, an amino acid unique to tea leaves, has been reported to exhibit stress-relieving effects. However, the stress-relieving effects of theanine (T) are greatly inhibited by caffeine (C) and epigallocatechin gallate (E), the main…

Animal studyCognition, mood and stressAntioxidants and polyphenolsL-theanine and caffeineCited 5×
2026Journal articleFree to read

Compositional Diversity and Functional Interactions of Bioactive Compounds in Japanese Green Tea: Focus on Matcha, Sencha, and Gyokuro.

Unno K, Kameoka Y, Nakamura Y — Molecules (Basel, Switzerland)

Japanese green teas, including matcha, sencha, and gyokuro, are derived from the leaves of Camellia sinensis and contain bioactive compounds such as catechins, caffeine, and amino acids, notably theanine. However, the amounts and ratios of…

ReviewCognition, mood and stressAntioxidants and polyphenolsL-theanine and caffeine
2024Journal articleFree to read

Quality analysis and antioxidant activity of different types of tea powder

Yutong Ye, Zeyi Ai, Ronglin Li, et al. — Food Production Processing and Nutrition

… with more fermentation usually contained fewer amino acids and catechins, but glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid were higher in black TP than in oolong TP. Theanine, glutamic acid and arginine were the main iconic components affecting …

Chemical / analyticalAntioxidants and polyphenolsL-theanine and caffeineProcessing, milling and qualityCited 10×
2013Journal articleFree to read

Objective Evaluation of Astringent and Umami Taste Intensities of Matcha using a Taste Sensor System

Tomomi Ujihara, Nobuyuki Hayashi, Hidekazu Ikezaki — Food Science and Technology Research

… (–)-epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCg) for astringent taste and monosodium glutamate (MSG) for umami taste. The precision of these evaluation results was sufficient for its practical use. The evaluation method was applied to …

Observational (human)Antioxidants and polyphenolsAroma, flavor and sensoryProcessing, milling and qualityCited 29×
2022Journal articleFree to read

The Effects of Matcha and Decaffeinated Matcha on Learning, Memory and Proteomics of Hippocampus in Senescence-Accelerated (SAMP8) Mice.

Igarashi K, Takagi M, Fukushima Y — Nutrients

… diseases, synapse transmission and nerve cell plasticity, antioxidation, glutamate transport and metabolism, GABA (γ-amino butyric acid) formation and transport and excitatory amino acid transporters: proteins downregulated upon …

Animal studyCognition, mood and stressMetabolism and weightAntioxidants and polyphenolsCited 10×
2026Journal article

Field-Aged Shade Nets Residues Disrupt Rhizosphere Microbiota and Nitrogen Metabolism in Tea (Camellia sinensis).

Wang K, Tong Z, Shen Y, et al. — Environmental science & technology

… C-N balance, impairing tea plant nitrogen metabolism, which in turn suppressed glutamate and theanine biosynthesis, reallocating metabolism toward bitter ester-type catechins, and ultimately reduced tea flavor and quality. Our findings …

Agronomy / cultivationMetabolism and weightL-theanine and caffeineGut and microbiome

How this library is built

Every record comes from three open scholarly indexes — PubMed, OpenAlex and Europe PMC — searched for the word “matcha.” Records are merged by DOI and PubMed ID so each study appears once. A paper is kept only if matcha appears in its title, abstract, author keywords or subject terms and the text is about tea or food, which filters out the surname Matcha, software called Matcha, and the Scandinavian verb “matcha” (to match).

Study type and topic tags are assigned automatically from each paper's own title, abstract and subject terms using fixed keyword rules — no guesses, and papers without an abstract are marked as unclassified. Automatic tagging is imperfect, so treat tags as a way to narrow a search, not as a verdict on a paper's quality. A study being listed here is not an endorsement of its findings.

Coverage: this is every indexed paper that names matcha, not every study of green tea or its compounds (those are far more numerous). Papers that mention matcha only in passing are hidden by default. Work that never uses the word “matcha,” and publications outside these indexes, are not included. The library was last rebuilt October 20, 2026.

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