Tea processing is the method in which the leaves from the tea plant Camellia sinensis are transformed into the dried leaves for brewing tea.

Steps involved in  black tea processing are:

• Withering:

Withering is the first and most important step involved in tea processing. By this process plucked tea leaves are conditioned for subsequent steps in tea manufacturing. Withering helps softening of the green leaves and facilitate expulsion of excess water from fresh leaves.

• Green Leaf Sifting:

After the withering process is over, the leaves are sent through a leaf sifter. Sifting eliminates extraneous matters like sand, stones or metal pieces that may have made their way to the factory from the field along with the leaves.

• Leaf Conditioning:

Preconditioning of the leaves for CTC processing is very much necessary. For this, the leaf shredder and rotor vane are used in combination. Care should be maintained so that the output capacity of leaf shredder and rotor vane should match with the CTC machine and also the dryer capacities.

• Leaf Maceration:

The process of leaf maceration is done by subjecting the leaves through rolling process where cell-walls are ruptured. The ruptured cells get exposed to atmospheric oxygen. This enables intermixing of chemical constituents and enzymes. This in turn produces important constituents responsible for tea characteristics. The starting of maceration indicates the onset of oxidation process. This in turn affects the flavor and color of the end product. That is why leaf maceration is another key step in tea manufacture.

Orthodox tea processing:

Rolling process is essential for the production of orthodox tea.