Abstract

ROMEIRO, Sara  and  DELGADO, Mayumi. Health in a Cup of Coffee. Nutrícias [online]. 2012, n.15, pp.20-23. ISSN 2182-7230.

Coffee is one of the oldest and most popular beverages worldwide. With its origin in Ethiopia, the two species with the highest business impact are Coffea arabica (Arabica coffee) and Coffea canephora (Robusta coffee). It presents about 2000 substances with a nutritional importance to heath, being caffeine the most known and studied component. Its main function is to stimulate the central nervous system, and has diuretic and vasodilatory properties. It contains also vitamins of complex B (niacin), mineral salts, nitrogenous compounds, lipids (diterpenes), carbohydrates (polysaccharides), polyphenols (chlorogenic acid) and trigonelline. Coffee is the subject of study by several scientific institutions seeking to prove its health benefits, namely in neurological, cardiac, oncologic, hepatic, endocrine, renal and bone pathologies. As such, it is considered a functional food with positive health effects beyond the nutritional characteristics.

Keywords : Coffee; Caffeine; Health.

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