Caffeine, cacao bean coffee

For many years oral xanthines, shown in Table 2, were the preferred first-line treatment for asthma in the United States, and if the aerosol and oral formulations of P2" go sts are considered separately, as they are in Table 1, this was still the case in 1989. Within this class of compounds theophylline (8), or one of its various salt forms, such as aminophylline [317-34-0] (theophylline ethylenediamine 2 l), have been the predominant agents. Theophylline, 1,3-dimethylxanthine [58-55-9], is but one member of a class of naturally occurring alkaloids. Two more common alkaloids are theobromine (9), isomeric with theophylline and the principal alkaloid in cacao beans, and caffeine, (10), 1,3,7-Trimethylxanthine [58-08-2], found in coffee and tea. 

Tea is made by processing the leaves of the tea tree Camellia sinensis, which originated in the southern areas of Yunnan province in China, and is now spread throughout the world. This plant has been used as a medicine for 5,000 years, and was probably first selected because its leaves contain a high concentration of caffeine. Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant, and other caffeine-containing plant products, such as coffee beans, cacao beans, guarana berries, kola nuts, and mate leaves, have been selected and used to make beverages by people on various continents. 

Caffeine (syn. thein, coffeine, guarine) acts as a central stimulant, and is present in tea, coffee, mat6 leaves, guarana paste and cola nuts. Theobromine is the principal allraloid of cacao beans (1.5-3%) and is also present in cola nuts and tea. Theobromine is usually prepared from cacao bean hulls, which con-... 

Caffeine is a drug with stimulating effects. It is found in foods, beverages, and medicines, and it occurs naturally in plant products such eis coffee, tea, cacao beans, kola nuts, mate drink, and guarana paste. More than 63 species of plants growing in all parts of the world contain caffeine in their leaves, seeds, or fruit. Pure caffeine is obtained (1) as a by-product from the manufacture of decaffeinated coffee, (2) from the extraction of coffee bean and tea leaf waste, and (3) from the methylation of theobromine obtained from cocoa waste. Most Americans consume some caffeine. Recently, there has been considerable concern as to the effect of caffeine on health. 

These two methylated xanthines are found in quite a number of plants and have been extracted and widely used for centuries. Indeed, they very hkely have been, and remain today, the predominant stimulant consumed by humans. Every time you make a cup of tea or coffee, you perform an aqueous extraction of plant material (tea leaves. Camellia sinenis, 1 %, or coffee beans, Coffea spp., 1-2%) to obtain a dose of 25-100 mg of caffeine. Caffeine is also the active substance (—2%) in mate (used in Paraguay as a tea) made from the leaves of Ilex paraguensis. In coffee and tea, caffeine is the dominant member of the pair, whereas in Theobroma cacao, from which we obtain cocoa, theobromine (1-3%) is the primary source of the biological response. Caffeine acts to stimulate the central nervous system with its main impact on the cerebral cortex, and as it makes one more alert, it is no surprise that it is the chief constituent in No-Doz pills. 

The most well-known purine alkaloid is caffeine (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine) 1 which, along with theobromine (3,7-dimethylxanthine) 2, accumulates in leaves of tea and mate and beans of coffee and cacao, which are popular components of nonalcoholic beverages and/or chocolate products [2]. The pharmacological effects of purine alkaloids in animals, such as stimulation of the central nervous system, have been investigated extensively [3]. Caffeine is also often utilized in cytological studies to induce the formation of binucleate cells and is, therefore, used to measure the duration of the mitotic cycle [4]. 

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