ABSTRACT
Coffee is one of the most popular drinks of Europeans and Americans. This chapter discusses bioactive compounds and potentially toxic compounds found in coffee and coffee products. Instant coffee is a product of coffee bean brew after drying. Spray-drying and freeze-drying processes are commonly used in the coffee industry. The finished product should contain a similar quantity of compounds to roasted coffee brew, mainly from Robusta coffee beans. The coffee leaves are also the rich source of many bioactive compounds, only caffeine, trigonelline, and chlorogenic acids but also mangiferin, isomangiferin, nicotinic acid, carotenoids. Phenolic compounds are plant metabolites that are related to the defense responses in the plant. The functioning of lignan compounds in plants is probably due to their role in defense against various pathogens and pests, and also in plant growth. The main alkaloids determined in coffee are methylxanthines, and caffeine is usually the dominating compound from this group. The next important alkaloid found in coffee is trigonelline.
