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A scientist has said we should microwave cups of tea and things have got heated

Fancy a cuppa? Let me just stick the microwave on…

It doesn’t quite trip off the tongue, does it, but a scientist believes it will slide along your taste buds in a delicious fashion.

A food researcher has claimed that microwaving a cup of tea makes it better for you.

In a move that could set England/Australia relations back by decades, food scientist Dr Quan Vuong, at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales, has said tea is healthier from the microwave than the kettle.

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He says he specialises in ‘adding nutritional value to natural products by extracting bioactive compounds with antioxidant capacities’.

In other words, he claims microwaved tea is a better for your body than the usual boiled-up brew.

Dr Vuong’s research actually dates from 2012, but has been back in the news in Australia recently because of an unlikely source: Broadchurch.

Does this look wrong to you? (Picture: Rex)
Does this look wrong to you? (Picture: Rex)

In a highly controversial moment from the ITV drama last month, David Tennant’s character made a cup of tea in a microwave.

Social media went into meltdown, and it has done likewise in (rather delayed) response to Dr Vuong’s research.

His study attempted to extract, isolate and purify the components of green tea and black tea, and he claimed that microwaving activated 80% of the caffeine, theanine and polyphenol compounds, and generated the best taste.

His method involves putting hot water in the cup with a teabag, then heating it in the microwave for 30 seconds on half power.

He then lets the tea sit for a minute before tasting.

‘In food products, people are concerned with health benefits but also with food quality and shelf life,’ Dr Vuong told ABC News.

‘Microwaving is one of the advanced technologies to get more bioactive compounds from the products.’

But tea lovers were less than impressed, venting their anger at microwave ovens on Twitter.