In many parts of the world, the day starts with a ‘good cup’!! Tea and coffee are the two most widely consumed beverages worldwide, and for many populations, a steaming cup of tea or frothy cup of coffee provides a good start to the day.

The term ‘Green Coffee’ has burst into the world’s food vocabulary in recent years. Although coffee as a beverage has been consumed by populations for several centuries, it’s as if someone suddenly rediscovered the “green coffee” part of regular coffee.

Green coffee bean is the name used for immature or unroasted coffee beans that are pale green in color compared to the mature bean that is brownish or reddish in color with a yellow undertone at times. These immature coffee beans are usually processed to remove the “mucilage” and outer pulp; a waxy coating on the outer surface remains intact.

The ‘mucilage’ is a glycoprotein and an exopolysaccharide, a thick and sticky substance produced by almost all plants and some microorganisms. It plays an important role in seed germination by storing food and water.

The dried coffee bean, which contains volatile and nonvolatile compounds, typically weighs between 300 and 330 mg per bean.

In the middle of the new millennium, Green Caffeine began to be promoted as a supreme health and nutritional supplement. The chlorogenic acid content of green coffee has been the focus of many clinical trials; It is increasingly being used in health supplements and weight loss diet programs for its lipolytic properties.

The content of Green Coffee

Green coffee contains volatile and non-volatile compounds, alkaloids, amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins. Caffeine is the most common alkaloid present in both green and roasted coffee and is not affected by any change in the ripening of the coffee beans from green to brown. Others such as libertine, methylliberine, paraxanthine, theobromine and theophylline are found in lower percentages; The concentration of theophylline, an alkaloid also found in green tea, is substantially reduced in the roasting process of coffee beans while others remain unchanged.

The data on the content of Green Coffee makes for interesting reading

• Proteins represent about 12% of the composition of green coffee beans; most of these are degraded to free amino acids during the maturation process. Degradation is caused by organic acids such as chlorogenic acid. Enzymes such as catalase, oxidase and polyphenol make up the other proteins that are equally necessary for the ripening process of green coffee.

• Carbohydrates account for almost 50% of the dry weight of the bean, but do not make a significant contribution to flavor

• The total lipid content can be from 11.7 g to 14 g per 100 grams of dry coffee. Some of the most prominent lipids in green coffee are amides, arachidic acid, diterpenes, esters, linoleic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, triglycerides, and long-chain unsaturated fatty acids. .

• Chlorogenic acid found in green caffeine is part of a group of compounds called phenolic acids, an antioxidant group. More than 70% of this valuable component is lost during roasting; only 30 mg residual per gram remains in the roasted bean.

• Volatile compounds include nitrogen-containing molecules that cause unpleasant odor and taste in green coffee beans. These compounds sometimes also cause nausea and vomiting when inhaling the odor. Although green coffee beans retain more antioxidants and vitamins, they cannot be used alone to prepare beverages; roasting allows the molecules to release a fresh and pleasant aroma that is more conducive to consumption. However, many of the vitamins and antioxidants are lost in the roasting process.