Effect of Conservation Method on Caffeine Uptake by Penicillium Commune V33A25

Abstract

Coffee pulp is one of the major by-products obtained during the pulping operation of coffee cherries. A fraction of this material is used for compost production for coffee plant nurseries and other part is spilt in rivers or piled up near them. For every two tons of coffee cherry processed, nearly one ton of pulp is generated. During the 1997-98 period, 10.4 million of sacks (60 kg each) of fresh coffee pulp were produced in Mexico (Barreiro, 1999). Coffee pulp is rich in proteins, minerals and fibre that can be used for animal feeding, but utilization of coffee pulp for feed is constrained by anti-physiological (caffeine) and anti-nutritional (polyphenols) compounds (Roussos et al., 1989). These compounds cause adverse effects on the animals that consume coffee pulp. Caffeine (1,3,7-trimethylxanthine, Figure 1) concentration varies according to the coffee variety (0.9–2.4% dry wt. basis). Its physiological role is probably to defend coffee plants from predators and to inhibit growth of other plants. In humans, caffeine is demethylated into three primary metabolites: theophylline, theobromine, and paraxanthine. At 100 mg.kg−1 teophylline is toxic to rats. Theobromine has been related with headache, insomnia, restlessness, excitement, mild delirium, muscle tremor, tachycardia and extrasystoles in man and caffeine has been reported to have many other activities including mutagenic, teratogenic and carcinogenic capacities.