Rooibos tea, scientific name Aspalathus linearis, is a popular tea grown in South Africa and consumed worldwide for its unique taste and presumed health benefits. There is a growing interest in using rooibos tea as a supplement for the deficiency of metallic nutrients in South Africa. In this study, the total concentrations of manganese (Mn) and zinc (Zn) in acid-digested tea leaves and the corresponding tea infusions were determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to estimate the contribution of rooibos tea consumption to the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of Mn and Zn in consumers. The accuracy of microwave-assisted acid digestion and tea infusion methods were checked by analyzing INCT-TL-1 tea leaves certified reference material (CRM) and samples spiked with standards, respectively. Both methods yielded quantitative percentage recoveries for Mn and Zn. Rooibos tea leaves and the corresponding infusions are composed of higher levels of Mn than Zn where 40.9 to 85.7 μg Mn/g and 4.15 to 12.2 μg Zn/g were found in digested tea leaves and 11.8 to 30.2 μg Mn/g and 1.51 to 4.59 μg Zn/g in tea infusions. These results indicate the contribution of about 1.0 to 3.2% Mn and 0.03 to 0.08% Zn in males approximately ≥ 9 years of age and 1.3 to 3.8% Mn and 0.04 to 0.11% Zn in females of the same age group as males of the RDA from drinking a cup of tea obtained by infusing a 2-g bag of rooibos tea.

路易波士茶，学名Aspalathus linearis，是一种在南非种植的流行茶，因其独特的口味和假定的健康益处而在全球范围内消费。在南非，人们越来越关注使用路易波士茶作为金属营养素缺乏的补充剂。在本研究中，通过电感耦合等离子体质谱法 (ICP-MS) 测定酸消化茶叶和相应茶浸液中锰 (Mn) 和锌 (Zn) 的总浓度，以估计路易波士茶消耗量的贡献到消费者推荐的锰和锌每日允许量（RDA）。通过分别分析 INCT-TL-1 茶叶认证标准物质 (CRM) 和加标样品来检查微波辅助酸消解和茶浸泡方法的准确性。两种方法都产生了 Mn 和 Zn 的定量百分比回收率。Rooibos 茶叶和相应的浸泡液由比 Zn 更高水平的 Mn 组成，其中在消化的茶叶中发现 40.9 至 85.7 μg Mn/g 和 4.15 至 12.2 μg Zn/g，11.8 至 30.2 μg Mn/g 和 1.51 至 4.59泡茶中的微克锌/克。这些结果表明，大约 ≥ 9 岁的男性中约 1.0 至 3.2% 的锰和 0.03 至 0.08% 的锌，以及与 RDA 男性相同年龄组的女性中的 1.3 至 3.8% 和 0.04 至 0.11% 的锌喝一杯通过注入 2 克袋装路易波士茶获得的茶。