Dr Gugu Mabizela at work in the laboratory. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

For the past few years, Mzansi’s indigenous honeybush tea plants have been part and parcel of Dr Gugu Mabizela’s life. Through her research, she has found that Cyclopia plants that are harvested in summer produce the best quality tea.

Her link with this species is set to continue now that Mabizela has received a doctorate in horticulture from the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT). Her thesis was on the “Metabolic and quality profiling of Cyclopia subternata and C. genistoides in response to seasonal variation and drought stress”.

Mabizela, who hails from Madadeni in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, has been researching honeybush since her MSc years at TUT.

She completed all of her postgraduate work while being part of the honeybush breeding programme at ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij in Stellenbosch since 2012. This is where she worked under the supervision of Agricultural Research Council (ARC) honeybush specialists Dr Cecilia Bester and prof. Lizette Joubert.

Mabizela’s doctorate was funded through the DSI-ARC Honeybush Project, a three-year project funded by the department of science and innovation and implemented by the ARC in support of the local indigenous honeybush industry.

Since 2019 it has helped to greatly expand research and practical know-how on the best practices available to further the growing of the local honeybush industry.

It aims to strengthen the industry and its people, and to ensure that indigenous teas being produced in South Africa are ultimately of such a high standard that they can compete on the tea markets of the world.

Honeybush tea is produced from the plant leaves and stems of some of the 23 species of Cyclopia plants that grow naturally in South Africa’s fynbos region of the Western and Eastern Cape. The tea is naturally caffeine-free, is low in tannins and rich in antioxidants. These characteristics add to its status as a healthy beverage.

Mabizela’s PhD research formed part of an ongoing effort to identify Cyclopia species that are particularly drought-tolerant, yet produce quality tea. She focused on Cyclopia subternata and Cyclopia genistoides, and took particular note of how the former, which is a self-seeding plant, responds to seasonal variations and drought stress.

Bester, one of her study leaders, says, “It is generally accepted that the regions in which honeybush grow naturally are becoming drier and more extreme due to climate change. Drought stress can hamper plant production and survival – an increasing challenge to the fledgling industry.”

Mabizela investigated the chemical and genetic responses to drought and seasonality by using methods such as high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), sensory analysis and proteomic analysis.

This provided her with insights into how honeybush plants respond to different climatic conditions, and how it plays out in the phenolic content (such as beneficial antioxidant levels) and the sensory profile of the plants.

Based on the data, she identified that summer is the best season in which to harvest these species of honeybush, while also ensuring the best possible quality.

Mabizela identified specific proteins responsive to drought stress in Cyclopia subternata. She says that proteomic tools can be applied when trying to breed plants with a greater tolerance to water stress, and when identifying protein-encoding genes to be selected to generate plants that produce maximal yields.

“To optimise the sensory attributes and health benefits of honeybush tea, we must make sure that plants always produce enough phenolic compounds, without influencing the taste negatively,” she says.

Mabizela is thankful that her research is benefiting the honeybush industry. On a personal level, she is appreciative of the relationships she has formed throughout her years of study, and for the new skills she has acquired.

“Patience tops my list of skills I’ve developed,” she admits.

As a candidate research technician of the Western Cape department of agriculture since March 2021, she is now part of a research team that works on alternative crops. Her focus is still on improving the production of honeybush plant material, in terms of cultivation and an increase in the metabolic output of plants.

“In other words, I’m continuing where I left off with my PhD research,” she adds proudly.

She has her sights set on becoming a well-renowned researcher of honeybush and other Western Cape alternative crops.

“I feel there is still more to be done, especially on the crops that are still in their infancy in terms of research.”

ALSO READ: How to start a tea farm in Mzansi

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