Abstract
Coffee brews have High Molecular Weight (HMW) compounds with described immunostimulatory activity, namely polysaccharides and melanoidins. Melanoidins are formed during roasting and are modified during brews technological processing. In addition, brews have Low Molecular Weight (LMW) compounds, namely free chlorogenic acids and caffeine, with well-known anti-inflammatory properties. However, this study shows that both espresso and instant coffee brews did not present immunostimulatory neither anti-inflammatory in vitro activities. It is possible that the simultaneous existence of compounds with antagonistic effects can mitigate their individual effects. To test this hypothesis, an ultrafiltration separation process was applied, studying the behavior of coffee brews’ HMW on retention of LMW compounds. Several ultrafiltration sequential cycles were required to separate retentates from LMW compounds, suggesting their retention. This effect was higher in instant coffee, attributed to its initial higher carbohydrate content when compared to espresso. Separation of HMW and LMW compounds boosted their immunostimulatory (6.2–7.8 µM nitrites) and anti-inflammatory (LPS induced nitrite production decrease by 36–31%) in vitro activities, respectively. As coffee anti-inflammatory compounds are expected to be first absorbed during digestion, a potential in vivo fractionation of LMW and HMW compounds can promote health relevant effects after coffee intake.
Highlights
As one of the most popular and consumed beverage in the world, coffee is constantly a subject of scientific study, namely for the identification of the compounds responsible for coffee consumption associated health effects [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
The application of a sequential ultrafiltration scheme allowed the separation of several permeates containing low molecular weight (LMW) compounds such as caffeine and Chlorogenic Acids (CGA)
This study showed that coffee brew polysaccharides prevent caffeine and chlorogenic acids (CGA)
Summary
As one of the most popular and consumed beverage in the world, coffee is constantly a subject of scientific study, namely for the identification of the compounds responsible for coffee consumption associated health effects [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. Caffeine and chlorogenic acids (CGA, the most representative source of phenolic compounds in coffee) have reported anti-inflammatory properties [11,12,13]. The immunostimulatory potential of coffee has been attributed to polysaccharides, a pro-inflammatory potential associated to coffee infusion galactomannans [14]. Polysaccharides are the compounds in higher abundance in coffee beverages, contributing to viscosity and thickness of coffee brews [17,18]. When carbohydrates are address as important to the foam stability in espresso coffee, this effect is mainly associated to the presence of galactomannans [17]. To facilitate the industrial processing and to allow a higher soluble solids content before drying, viscosity is usually decreased by the use of mannanase treatments, converting galactomannans into galactomannan-oligosaccharides [19]. As the pre-processing steps can contribute to modify carbohydrates structure, these steps can affect structure-function related properties
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