Caffeine

Caffeine, also known as trimethylxanthine, coffeine, theine, mateine, guaranine, methyltheobromine and 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine, is a xanthine alkaloid found naturally in such foods as coffee beans, tea, kola nuts, Yerba mate, guarana berries, and (in small amounts) cacao beans. For the plant, caffeine acts as a natural pesticide since it paralyzes and kills some of the insects that attempt to feed on the plant.

History

Although tea consumption in China began thousands of years ago, the first documented use of caffeine in a beverage for its pharmacological effect was by the sufis of Yemen, who used coffee to stay awake during prayers in the 15th century. In the 16th century there were coffeehouses in Cairo and Mecca. Coffeehouses opened in Europe in the 17th century.

Related Topics:
Tea - China - Pharmacological - Sufis - Yemen - Coffee - Coffeehouse - Cairo - Mecca

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Caffeine was isolated by the German chemist Friedrich Ferdinand Runge in 1819. According to the legend, he did this at the instigation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (Weinberg & Bealer 2001).

Related Topics:
German - Friedrich Ferdinand Runge - 1819 - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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