Caffeine-producing plants

Given the many plants that contain caffeine, some have speculated that even Stone Age humans chewed the leaves and fruit of caffeine-producing plants to enjoy its stimulant properties. Although this early consumption is speculative, it is clear that caffeine consumption has been with us for a long time. 

Explanation of the caffeine-extraction plants, most of the commercial plants produce at least two different products. Plants were consolidated to what is thought to be the main product. Capacities are estimated on a twelve months operation basis, which is - at least for hops -higher than reality. The order of product groups is in terms of decreasing total extraction volume. The product groups Chemistry and Environmental Purposes contain both products from natural and artificial origins. Several plants with the same product at one site are counted as one. 

Although the types of effects produced by caffeine in hamster cells and in onion root tips are very different, the concentrations needed to produce these effects are about the same in both materials i.e., onion root tips and hamster cells appear to be about equally sensitive to caffeine. On the other hand, we have found that 8-ethoxycaffeine, which is much more active than caffeine in plant roots (e.g., Kihlman, 1952), has about the same activity as caffeine in hamster cells. 

Kim Y-S, Lim S, Kang K-K, Jung Y-J, Lee Y-H, Choi Y-E, Sana H (2011) Resistance against beet armyworms and cotton aphids in caffeine-producing transgenic chrysanthemum. Plant Biotechnol 28 393-395... 

Feasibility studies have shown that, although the initial investment cost of the C02-based plant is higher, this process provides a better income and a higher gross profit per tonne of coffee processed than does the ethyl acetate-based process. The higher gross profit is mainly due to the excellent quality of both the coffee and the caffeine produced by the CO2 process and to the fact that losses in this process are negligible. In fact 85-90% of the extracted... 

Cameroon produces a caffeine-free Coffea species, Coffea chanieriana, but in the West solvents such as dichloromethane, ethyl acetate or even supercritical CO2 are used to dissolve the caffeine from the coffee beans to make decaffeinated coffee. Scientists can notv engineer low-caffeine coffee plants, too. 

Many antibiotics produced by various microorganisms are nucleosides (2). Among these are nebularine, cordycepin, and nucleocidin. The only known purines in higher plants shown to be involved In allelopathy are caffeine, theophylline, paraxanthine, and theobromine from the coffee tree... 

The creatures of the world, both animals and plants, produce a wide range of biologically active substances. Biologically active substances produced by animals or plants that cause an adverse effect are called toxins. Toxins refers only to toxic agents produced by animals and plants, not toxic substances such a lead or pesticides. The classification of a substance as a toxin tends to be in the eye of the beholder. Is caffeine, a naturally occurring agent in many plants, a toxin or just a pharmacologically active compound or both ... 

Japanese scientists develop a genetically engineered coffee plant the produces low caffeine beans... 

A further method separates the extracted substances by absorption. Basic for this method is that there should be a high solubility of extracted substances in the absorption material, and that the solubility of absorption substance in the circulation solvent should be as low as possible. Further, the absorption material must not influence the extract in a negative way and a simple separation of extract and absorption material has to be available. An ideal absorption material is therefore a substance which is present in the raw material. Most plant-materials contain water, which can act as a very successful absorption material. An ideal example is the separation of caffeine for the decaffeination of coffee and tea. On the one hand, water has a low solubility in CO2, and on the other, water-saturated CO2 is necessary for the process. The extracted caffeine is dissolved into water in the separator and caffeine can be produced from this water-caffeine mixture by crystallization. One advantage of this separation method is that the whole process runs under nearly isobaric conditions. 

Caffeine is present in coffee, tea, and chocolate. These plant-derived beverages and foods also contain the other methylxanthines, which some scientists say serve as defense chemicals for leaves and berries produced in climates where there is no winter to kill off chewing bugs. Tea contains mostly caffeine, with small amounts of theophylline and theobromine, but tea is a weaker plant extract than the stronger brew, coffee. Theobromine is the primary methylxanthine found in cocoa, which also contains a small amount of caffeine per cup. Caffeine content ranges from as little as 5 mg in a cup of hot cocoa to 300 mg in 6 oz (177 ml) of espresso. Colas have about 50 mg per 12 fl oz (355 ml). 

In general, plants do very well in their environments, notwithstanding the omnipresence of a multitude of potential insect herbivores and a number of vertebrate herbivores as well. Some plant species are very insecticidal, as a consequence of their producing a variety of alkaloids including nicotine, piperine, lupine alkaloids, steroidal alkaloids, ephedrine, berberine, strychnine, gramine, and caffeine.37 These biologically active alkaloids also function as deterrents. In terms of families, caffeine is the the most widely distributed alkaloid, a fact that may be... 

Caffeine (Fig. 11.3), widely used by humans as a stimulatory drug, has so far been detected only in a few plant species. The biological roles of caffeine are believed to be in defense against herbivory or as an allelopathic response to potential competitors.83 Caffeine is derived from the purine alkaloid xanthosine. From xanthosine, three methylations are necessary to produce caffeine. First, xanthosine is methylated on N7 by 7-methylxanthosine synthase (MXS or 7NMT) to produce 7-methylxanthosine, which is enzymatically hydrolyzed to produce 7-methylxanthine and ribose.85,86 The methylations of N1 and N3 of 7-methylxanthine to produce 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine (caffeine) occur in young leaves of tea, and the same enzyme, caffeine synthase, apparently catalyzes both reactions.55 In coffee plants, caffeine is mainly found in the beans but also occurs in the leaves. Caffeine is stored in the vacuoles of coffee leaves as a complex with polyphenols such as chlorogenic acid.87 In contrast to tea, coffee plants appear to have separate enzymes for each step of N-methylation.57... 

Caffeine (= 1,3,7-Trimethylxanthine Coffeine Guaranine Thein Theine) (purine, methylxanthine) most consumed plant bioactive alkaloid Over 4 million tons of coffee produced each year... 

Kim YS, Uefuji H, Ogita S, Sano H. Transgenic tobacco plants producing caffeine a potential new strategy for insect pest control. Transgenic Res. 2006 15 667-672. 

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