What is Schizandra tea?

Schizandra tea is a convenient single-use tea bag made from dried Schizandra berries. Simply place the tea bag in hot water and steep for 1-2 minutes to fully enjoy the unique taste and aroma of Schizandra. Because of its strong sourness, it is best enjoyed hot with a touch of sweetness; the resulting sweet-and-sour flavor is delicious. Here is a brief introduction to the raw ingredient, Schizandra.

Schizandra (Omija)

Schizandra is a very famous berry in Korea, historically associated with vital energy (精). It is one of the five berries widely talked about in folk tradition: Schizandra, Bokbunja (Korean black raspberry), Gugija (goji berry), Tosaja (dodder seed), and Sasangja (parsley seed).

The Name "Omija"

The name Omija (五味子) is a Sino-Korean word composed of the characters for five (五), taste (味), and offspring/seed (子), which perfectly describes the berry's characteristics. It is said that the name was given because you can taste sour and sweet flavors when chewing the pulp and skin together, pungent and bitter flavors when chewing only the seeds, and a salty flavor when chewing the pulp and seeds together. In other words, the five tastes that Schizandra evokes are sweet, bitter, sour, pungent, and salty.

Types of Schizandra

"Schizandra" is both a specific plant name and a general term used to refer to all similar species. In plant taxonomy, there are 2 genera (屬) and 41 species (種) of plants worldwide called Schizandra. The two genera are Schisandra and Kadsura. In Korea, we find the Northern Schizandra, Black Schizandra, White-fruited Black Schizandra, and 'Gae' (wild) Schizandra of the Schisandra genus, as well as the Kadsura japonica of the Kadsura genus growing in the wild.

The species that Koreans commonly call "Omija" is the Northern Schizandra. Native to Korea's Baekdudaegan mountain range, Manchuria, and the Russian Far East, it is the most widely cultivated variety for culinary and health purposes. Kadsura japonica is a wild Schizandra species found in Korea's southern coastal areas, Jeju Island, as well as in China, Japan, and Taiwan.

Like Kadsura, Black Schizandra also grows wild in Korea's southern coast, Jeju Island, Japan, Taiwan, and central/western/southern China. Although Black Schizandra grows in the southern part of Korea, it is a type of Northern Schizandra and is classified as a rare (endangered) plant, protected by the Korea Forest Service and the Ministry of Environment. The photo below shows three types of Schizandra native to Korea. You can see that the arrangement of the berries differs slightly between the Northern Schizandra and Kadsura.

History of Schizandra

Schizandra has been recorded in the Shennong Bencao Jing, a medical text from the pre-Christian era (estimated to have been published during China's Qin-Han period), indicating that it has been used for health purposes for at least 2,000 years. It is also mentioned in the Baopuzi, written by Ge Hong (283-343 AD) during China's Eastern Jin Dynasty, which acknowledges Schizandra from Goguryeo as the highest quality. This record confirms that Schizandra was already growing wild in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula before the 4th century.

Schizandra is used for food in Korea, China, Japan, and Russia, and is included in each country's traditional health texts as a health ingredient. In Korea, cultivation is active in areas such as Inje, Hoengseong, Danyang, Mungyeong, Sangju, and Jangsu.

Why Schizandra is Famous

The first reason for Schizandra's fame is its five flavors. It possesses all five flavors corresponding to the categorization within the Yin-Yang and Five Elements philosophy, which shaped the Eastern worldview. These five flavors are: sour (associated with Wood), bitter (Fire), sweet (Earth), pungent (Metal), and salty (Water). While the tea's dominant flavor is sour, it contains a blend of all five, creating a uniquely complex taste.

The second reason for its fame is the color of its berries. Schizandra berries are a captivating red. While black Schizandra does exist, it is extremely rare; most are red. This red Schizandra is a perfect fit for a "pigment food" favored by health-conscious people who live by the motto of achieving longevity through a healthy body and sound mind.

The third reason for its fame is the phytoestrogen content found within the berry. Schizandra berries contain substances called Schizandrin and Gomisin. A product using the Schizandrin from these berries was developed in China, and the fact that Korea Hutecs Pharmaceutical began importing and selling it also contributed to its popularity.

Composition of Schizandra

The general nutritional composition of Schizandra berries is as follows. "Dry basis" in the parentheses below means the figures are calculated with moisture removed.

General Composition of Schizandra Berries (pulp + seed) (Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture - 1989, dry basis)

Schizandra contains carbohydrates, citric acid, malic acid, and unsaturated fatty acids, which blend together to create its complex flavors. The reason it appears to have a high content of crude fat (around 25%) is because of the seeds. The seeds are rich in unsaturated fatty acids. Below is a brief introduction to some of the important, special, and trace components of Schizandra.

Traditional Uses of Schizandra

Below is a brief introduction to how Schizandra is traditionally used in Korea and abroad.

The fruit, bark, and roots of the Omija tree are all used for health purposes, and all possess a warm nature.

The product supplier is Onyudam (CEOs: Yoon Sung-hyun, Jo Su-in), and the manufacturer is Hapcheon Herbal Processing Agricultural Corporation (CEO: Baek Moon-gi). CEO Baek, who had been running a health herb farm with his parents for over 20 years, established the Hapcheon Herbal Processing Agricultural Corporation in 1996 and built a processing plant the following year. The company first won the $500,000 Export Tower award in 2003, and CEO Baek has served as the 17th and 18th chairman of the Korea Herbal Medicine Association.

Hapcheon Herbal Processing Agricultural Corporation cultivates about 60 types of health plants in Hapcheon-eup, Hapcheon-gun, where the corporation is located, including chrysanthemum, hydrangea, mulberry, persimmon, peony, achyranthes, safflower, motherwort, Omija, goji berry, cornelian cherry, astragalus, green tea, silver vine, and bellflower, and uses them as ingredients for health tea. The company sells its products through domestic and international channels and also supplies products to other companies through OEM manufacturing.

Hapcheon Herbal Processing Agricultural Corporation received the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Award in 2002, registered the trademark 'Sangrime' in 2007, received the international food safety standard ISO22000 certification in 2015, and was registered as a venture company in the same year. In 2017, it registered a patent for a bellflower tea manufacturing method, in 2018 it received the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety HACCP certification (No. 2018-2-9156), and in 2019 it received organic certification (No. 17100199) for chrysanthemum crops, establishing itself as a small but strong enterprise. A brief introduction to Hapcheon Herbal Processing Agricultural Corporation is provided below.

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