Abstract: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a common chronic intestinal inflammatory disorder, primarily including ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), with a complex pathogenesis involving multiple interacting factors. In recent years, intervention with tea and its active components in IBD and their action mechanisms have garnered considerable research attention. Research indicates that tea and its functional components can alleviate colitis through multiple pathways, including regulating inflammatory factors and related signaling pathways, modulating immune function, repairing the intestinal barrier, and regulating the gut microbiota and metabolites. This review summarizes recent progress on the role of tea in mitigating colitis, with a focus on its action mechanism, aiming to provide new insights and scientific evidence for the prevention and treatment of IBD.

Key words: tea; bioactive components; inflammatory bowel disease; gut microbiota; mechanism of action