Today, coffee is one of the most common drinks in the world. Africa is a historical homeland and there is nothing surprising in the fact that the most elite varieties of the drink are obtained from raw materials grown on this continent. Each coffee bean has a rich composition of complex organic substances.
In addition to Africa, coffee is grown by craftsmen from Central America and the Caribbean. A drink from such grains is endowed with a special taste, aroma and texture. In South America, Brazil is primarily responsible for coffee production. The quality here is also much appreciated. Also, a number of countries in Southeast Asia are also contributing.
What is the use of coffee?
One has only to mention out loud about coffee, as you can immediately feel all this pleasant aroma of a delicious and unique drink. Teas, too, do not lose their relevance, and among many people for a long time there have been discussions about who is better to give preference. Speaking about the benefits of coffee, first of all, it is worth mentioning its high qualities:
- Stimulating effect.
- Tonic effect.
- High percentage of antioxidant.
- The risk of a number of diseases is reduced.
The stimulating effect is achieved due to the caffeine content, which everyone who takes this drink in the morning knows about. What is the feature here? The fact is that thanks to this active component, which is included in the chemical composition of coffee beans, the blood supply to the brain is significantly improved, and short-term memory is often activated. Due to this, a person can promptly make the necessary decisions.
The tonic effect also benefits the human body. You can forget about stress, apathy, lethargy, drowsiness, and other similar manifestations, as coffee helps fight these ailments.
Everyone knows that with the interaction of iron with oxygen (which is full in the air), it begins to rust over time. Something similar happens in our body and free oxygen radicals take part in this. Thanks to antioxidants, these radicals are neutralized, and the higher their concentration in the body, the better the protection. One cup of morning coffee drunk contains up to 1 gram of nutrients, which is a quarter of the daily norm.
If you regularly drink such an invigorating drink, you can protect yourself from many risks:
- oncology of the liver;
- Alzheimer's disease;
- diabetes mellitus;
- alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver.
And if you refrain from adding sugar to the drink - caries is not terrible! The immune and digestive systems are also protected.
Is there any harm ?!
Despite all the advantages that coffee beans give, the composition this one can be harmful. Over time, there is a dependence - if a person goes without coffee for a long time, he is attacked by drowsiness, fatigue, a headache and, in some cases, pain may appear in the muscles.
Moreover, the influence is not only on the physical, but also on the mental level. While caffeine is present in the body, a person spends most of the time in an excited state. But in his absence, the appearance of irritability, depression, and even inhibition can not be avoided.
Coffee helps strengthen the work of the heart and the vascular system of a person. Therefore, excessive consumption of the drink leads to the inevitable deterioration of cardiac activity.
In addition, this is a good diuretic effect, and too frequent intake leads to the rapid aging of the body as a whole, since most of the beneficial trace elements are washed out with water and salts. Among them are calcium and magnesium. With their obvious lack, the risk of osteoporosis or heart disease increases.
Pregnant women should not eat coffee beans at all. The composition on the unborn baby acts in the same way as on an adult. But for dependence to appear, a very small dose will be required, so expectant mothers are better off completely abstaining from this drink.
General information on the chemical composition of the drink
Nature itself has tried and endowed coffee with a variety. As modern technologies in the field of determining the chemical composition show, about two thousand different components are present in grains. A detailed study received only a few hundred. Thanks to this combination, we feel the aroma and taste of the drink. Moreover, each type of coffee has an individual set of substances.
The rich chemical composition of coffee, as well as the percentage of all substances, is determined by the climate and soil characteristics at the cultivation sites. And the features of taste and aroma depend on the technology of frying and preparing the drink itself.
As a result of this, natural components undergo complex transformations at the chemical level. And as a result of processing coffee beans, the composition is changing. Moreover, experts from many countries around the world are trying to understand the essence of the ongoing processes.
Green grains
Green coffee is becoming more and more popular every day, despite being expensive. At the same time, there are both supporters and opponents. The former consider it a drink endowed with healing properties, and the latter generally recommend staying as far away from it as possible. In fact, this is just a contradiction.
Grains that have not been roasted contain a large amount of antioxidants and valuable trace elements. So in a thermally unprocessed product a lot:
- Caffeine. It is he who gives the coffee an invigorating and tonic effect. Another alkaloid is also present - theobromine, which is able to regulate the concentration of glucose in the blood.
- Tannin It is a tannin with antibacterial properties, which helps to remove heavy toxins from the body. It also helps to strengthen blood vessels, improve digestion and accelerate tissue regeneration.
- Chlorogenic acid. An effective antioxidant of plant origin, which is found only in raw grains, since the temperature of 200-250 ° C (roasting) leads to its destruction. Due to its presence in coffee beans, fats do not accumulate in the body, metabolism improves, and the digestive and circulatory system returns to normal.
- Theophylline. The composition of the blood improves, which reduces the risk of blood clots. Also responsible for the normalization of the respiratory system, abdominal cavity, heart.
- Amino acids. Our immunity increases its protective functions, the tone of the vascular system increases, the appetite returns to normal. In addition, a person can gain the right amount of muscle mass.
- Lipids. These substances have a beneficial effect on the nervous system.
- Fiber. If the body has enough of these substances, then you can avoid the risk of developing cancer. Cholesterol levels are well controlled, in addition, digestion, as well as the functioning of the pelvic organs, is normalized.
- Trigonellina. Thanks to it, the pressure returns to normal, the metabolism is maintained at an optimal level, the brain functions and the formation of blood cells improves.
- Essential oils. They act as a sedative, help to improve digestion, have a beneficial effect on the respiratory system. But most importantly, substances can eliminate harmful microorganisms.
It is worth noting that theobromine in the composition of coffee beans is a kind of caffeine analogue. As you can see, untreated grains have more beneficial properties. It is no coincidence that it is recommended to use green grains for weight loss.
Fried raw materials
During the heat treatment procedure, some moisture is reduced in grains (14-23%), but additional volume is acquired due to gas generation. Most substances found in raw grains form new compounds during roasting. As a result, the chemical composition becomes even richer. At the same time, 800 components form palatability.
In addition to the fact that the heat treatment of the beans gives the coffee a pleasant aroma, the grains themselves acquire a recognizable dark shade. Roasting has a damaging effect on tannin. And since this component gives the drink a bitter taste, you should carefully approach the process.
A unique aroma is obtained with the participation of trigonellin, which during frying is converted to nicotinic acid. At the same time, caffeine becomes larger. More details about it below.
Caffeine
Most people present caffeine and theobromine as a brown powder in coffee beans. In fact, both of these substances are crystals of a white hue or are completely colorless, which taste bitter. It is he who removes our body from a sleepy state and gives us vivacity in the morning.
For the first time, people learned about caffeine in 1819 thanks to the German chemist Ferdinand Runge. He gave him such a name. And in 1828, two chemists and a pharmacist and France, Joseph Bienme Cavantou and Pierre Joseph Pelletier were able to get pure caffeine. Emil German Fischer, who was the first to master the artificial synthesis of caffeine, made an invaluable contribution to the development of this substance.
Where does such a well-known component come from? It is usually obtained from a number of plants:
- Tea
- coffee tree ;
- guarana fruits;
- cola nuts;
- cocoa;
- yerba mate.
In addition, it does not hurt to know how much it is contained in different types of products.
The approximate concentration of the active substance:
- a cup of tea - 15-75 mg;
- a cup of brewed coffee - 97-125 mg;
- a cup of chocolate (100 g) - 30 mg;
- a cup of cocoa - 10-17 mg;
- a cup of instant coffee - 31-70 mg;
- Coca-Cola (100 g) - 14 mg;
- energy drink (0.25 L can) 30-80 mg.
A wide range for coffee and tea is determined by the variety and method of preparation.
Theobromine
Being part of coffee beans, both caffeine and theobromine affect the psychomotor of a person. Other qualities of theobromine can also be distinguished:
- interacts with alkalis and acids;
- not decomposed in air;
- practically insoluble in water;
- is in a solid state;
- crystalline structure;
- has a bitter taste.
Theobromine has its own formula - C 7 H 8 O 2 N 4 , from which it can be seen that the substance is a compound of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen. It is found in cocoa beans, stake nuts, and also trees from the Padubov family are rich in them. Tea tree leaves and coffee beans contain a small amount.
Coffee dosage
If you periodically drink such a drink, then the nervous system is really stimulated for a certain period of time. Exceeding the average dosage leads to a loss of the stimulating effect. As a result, the nervous system is depleted.
With prolonged use of coffee, a “drug” dependence appears, the degree of which depends on the individual characteristics of the body. For the same reason, it is impossible to establish how much time it will take, since in each case there is a reaction to the stimulus.
Many researchers study how much caffeine and theobromine are in beans of different types of coffee. But we, as amateurs, are much more interested in another question: "How much drink can lead to death?". According to experts, for a limited period of time you need to drink 80-100 cups. Fortunately, it is impossible for us to master such a quantity of a drink, no matter how tasty it may be.