Femm Dominique Jaranilla, Mark Joseph Abing (March 2009)
Philippine Science High School Western Visayas Campus – Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PSHS WVC), Brgy. Bito-on, Jaro, Iloilo City 5000, Philippines
ABSTRACT
Caffeine is an organic compound (alkaloid drug) commonly obtained from coffee beans and tea leaves. It is an example of methylxanthines.
Caffeine is commonly found in many foods that are consumed, particularly in coffee which is the leading dietary source of caffeine. Coffee is a widely-consumed beverage prepared from the beans of the coffee plant. Philippines is one of the few countries that produces the four varieties of comercially-viable coffee: Arabica, Liberica (Barako), Excelsa and Robusta. Many people are dependent to it. As a food, most studies agree that coffee is rich in anti-oxidants and other healthy substances. Therefore, it is important to know exactly how much caffeine is taken in by a person everytime one drinks coffee.
This study was not able to determine the caffeine content of the different varieties of coffee by extraction and therefore could not compare them. The results of the study are inconclusive due to the approximately 90% to 95% of the final products that were impurities and not caffeine.