History of coffee

For all that, the history of coffee has not come to an end. People liked the social atmosphere of coffee drinking but did not want the possible effect of caffeine, hence the decaffeination process, or of some acids, hence the steam-treatment. For others, making coffee from the roasted beans was too much trouble, hence the preparation of soluble coffees, decaffeinated or not. All these treatments alter the content, and therefore the taste of the beverage. There is now a trend to new products (iced coffee, iced cappuccino for example). There are also gourmet people who buy specialty roasted coffee and increase the side-market for coffee-pots or espresso makers by brewing coffee according to their taste. 

The truth lies somewhere between the two (see also Section 4.1). During recent decades, the concern about health and food has increased so much that many publications can be found about coffee in this respect. Pharmacology is certainly not the purpose of this book, but nevertheless, we estimate that these studies are part of the new history of coffee, as the conclusions will encourage or discourage coffee drinking. We will try to summarize (without quoting any special work, but the results are from recent years) what could be of some interest to a reader not specialized in this field. 

Smith R.F. (1985a) New aspects on the chemistry of tea and coffee. II. Z. Lebensm. Unters. Forsch. 180, 15-20. Smith R.F. (1985b) A history of coffee. In Coffee. Botany, Biochemistry and Production of Beans and Beverage, Clifford M.N. and Willson K.C. Eds, Croom Helm and AVI, pp. 1-12. 

Notify the primary health care provider if you have a history of ulcers, feel faint, experience severe stomach pains, vomit blood or material that resembles coffee grounds, or have bloody or black stools. 

Table 4.2 History of caffeine consumption (T = tea, Co = coffee, Ch = chocolate)...

Liver dysfunction. In a 4-year study in 1221 liver dysfunction-free (serum aspartate aminotransferase [AST] and alanine aminotransferase [ALT] <39 lU/L and no medical care for or no past history of liver disease) males aged 35-56 years, was investigated for the association of coffee consumption with the development of increased serum AST and/or ALT activities. From the analysis using the Kaplan-Meier method, the estimated incidence of serum AST and/ or ALT > 40 lU/L, > 50 lU/L, and > 60 lU/ L decreased with an increase in coffee consumption. From the Cox proportional haz-... 

Humans have a long history of use of stimulant and mind-altering substances. Tea, coffee, alcohol, tobacco, opium, cocaine, marijuana, and a host of... 

A study of the risk factors for gastrointestinal perforation, a much less frequent event than bleeding, has confirmed that aspirin and other NSAIDs increase the risk of both upper and lower gastrointestinal perforation (OR 6.7, Cl 3.1-14.5 for NSAIDs) (53). Gastrointestinal perforation has been associated with other factors, such as coffee consumption, a history of peptic ulcer, and smoking. The combination of NSAIDs, smoking, and alcohol increased the risk of gastrointestinal perforation (OR 10.7, Cl 3.8-30) (SEDA-21, 97). 

An acute lateral-wall myocardial infarction was reported in a 55-year-old woman with a 1-year history of use of a weight loss product containing 300 mg Citrus aurantium (no other description provided) as well as 30 mg caffeine (misidentified as guararanine [sic]) and 30 mg green tea (no other description). The patient also reported a nearly 40-year tobacco-smoking habit (IVl packs per day), high caffeine intake from cola, coffee, and tea, and a preexisting heart murmur (Nykamp et al. 2004). 

A case series of five patients with transient visual loss observed over a 10-year period was reported. All of the patients had consumed significant amounts of licorice prior to the visual loss. Potential other causes of the loss were noted, including significant coffee consumption in three of the patients and histories of ischemia or migraine headaches in two of the patients (Dobbins and Saul 2000). 

The main growing areas of coffee and cocoa shifted from their native lands as history moved on. Today, most coffee is grown in central and South America, whereas cocoa is mainly farmed in Western Africa (Ivory Coast alone is the origin of one third of all the cocoa on Earth). The annual world production is about 7.8 milhon t for coffee, and 4.1 million t for cocoa. Coffee trade is worth 7 billion a year, which ranks as number four after coal, oil and cereal grains. 

Purines also occur in common beverages. For example, it is customary to drink tea, coffee, cocoa, mate, guarana, and other related stimulating drinks in many places in the world. Coffee, red tea, green tea, and cocoa are representative drinks that are widely appreciated all over the world. Among these, coffee is prepared from the seeds of Cqffea arabica or Coffea robusta (Rubiaceae), and red tea and green tea are prepared from the leaves of Camellia sinensis (Theaceae). Cocoa is prepared from the seeds of Theobroma cacao (Sterculiaceae). These drinks all contain purine derivatives, i.e., caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline. The history of the research on caffeine and theophylline is old, and these alkaloids were isolated as long ago as 1820 by Pelletier and Caventou. Total syntheses of these alkaloids were attempted at the end of the nineteenth century [3,4]. 

When oily nuts and seed are roasted and ground to rupture a sufficient number of cell walls, a paste or butter is produced. When the nuts are of edible quality and the operation is sanitary, the paste becomes an important food item. Pulverizing nuts not only releases free oil, but flavors as well. Historically, grinding roasted nuts into paste was one of the first nut products to be made. It was adapted from grinding coffee with mortar and pestle, and crushing corn and wheat to make bread. While most oily nuts of the world - hazel nuts, almonds, macadamia, peanuts and pecans - have been made into paste commercially, the process is a part of the history of all edible nuts. 

In ordinary conversation, the word "aromatic" conjures pleasant associations—the odor of freshly prepared coffee, or of a cinnamon bun. Similar associations occurred early in the history of organic chemistry, when pleasantly "aromatic" compounds were isolated from natural oils produced by plants. As the structures of these compounds were elucidated, a number of them were found to contain a highly unsaturated six-carbon structural unit that is also found in benzene. This special ring structure became known as a benzene ring, and the aromatic compounds containing a benzene ring became part of a larger family of compounds now classified as aromatic on the basis of their electronic structure rather than their odor. 

The history of the xanthine alkaloids (Fig. 4.38) goes back to ancient times when their plant sources were discovered. Caffeine was extracted from tea, coffee and cocoa theophylline was mainly found in tea extract,... 

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