Google celebrates Michiyo Tsujimura and her breakthrough research on green tea with a Doodle
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The new Google Doodle today celebrates the life of the late biochemist Michiyo Tsujimura, Japan’s first woman doctor of agriculture whose groundbreaking research of green tea explains its bitter taste.
The illustration shows Tsujimura conducting research surrounded by a steaming cup of green tea and tea leaves. Today marks her 133rd birthday.
About Tsujimura: Born on Sept. 17, 1888 in Okegawa, Japan, Tsujimura began her career as a science teacher before later pursuing her dream to become a scientific researcher, according to Google.
In 1920, she began working at Hokkaido Imperial University where she researched Japanese silkworms.
She began her research of green tea with Dr. Umetaro Suzuki when she transferred to Tokyo Imperial University a few years later. Dr. Umetaro is credited with the discovery of Vitamin B1.
Together, their research found that green tea contained Vitamin C.
She’d later go on to discover more molecular compounds of green tea, including catechin and tannin which give the tea its bitter taste.
Her research would later comprise her thesis, “On the Chemical Components of Green Tea” when she became the first woman to earn a doctoral degree in agriculture Japan in 1932 from Tokyo Imperial University, according to CNet.
In 1956, she was awarded the Japan Prize of Agricultural Science for her research of green tea, before passing away in 1969 at 81 years old.
A stone memorial lies in honor of her at her birthplace of Okegawa City.
Featured Image via Google
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