“This approach, although preliminary, ends up being very promising for the development of advanced materials. On the one hand, because they become resistant to bacterial infections. On the other hand, because they promote bone regeneration”, explained Marco Oliveira in statements to Lusa agency.

The researcher works at the Institute of Electronics of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, which is part of a European Marie Curie project (it is one of the initiatives supported by the program with that name) and is part of a consortium with several universities, institutes and companies with the objective of developing materials with “antibacterial characteristics for bone regeneration”.

Marco Oliveira recalled the “Azorean roots” when the team was looking for an antioxidant to incorporate in orthopaedic applications, as bacterial infections are one of the “main causes of rejection of bone implants”.

“What we needed was an antioxidant, preferably something natural. As I always maintain a very strong connection with my roots, I automatically remembered our green tea from the Azores, more specifically Gorreana tea”, he said.

The innovative method starts from the synthesis of silver nanoparticles and combines femtosecond laser technology with tea leaf extract that is grown in the parish of Maia, on the north coast of the island of São Miguel.

The study, already published in the scientific journal Materials, demonstrated the effectiveness of Gorreana green tea.

“We discovered that the combination of technologies promotes a very significant stimulation effect on the growth of bone cells, even showing preliminary signs of bone mineralization after 15 days of growth and a significant reduction in bacterial growth”, he revealed.

Although the project is still in a “preliminary phase”, the application of this tea in nanoparticles could make it possible to combat diseases such as osteoporosis.

The specific use of green tea can be explained with a practical reason: it was the type of tea that Marco Oliveira had at home.

“This is what I had available here in Bulgaria. A good Azorean is always stocked with what is ours. I make a point of having something that always reminds me of my origins”, he confessed, admitting that there may be other teas, such as Gorreana black, with potential for orthopaedic applications.

The Azorean, who headed to Bulgaria after eight years in Porto (where he completed his undergraduate and master's degrees in Medicinal Biotechnology and Applied Microbiology, respectively) explained that the next phase is to carry out a “deeper investigation” to detail the results of the first study .

“If we see that it has potential, we can move to more advanced stages with ‘in vitro’ testing and then, who knows, pass human tests and see if it is possible to apply it in clinical practice”, he concluded.