Roasting Levels Impact the Health Benefits of Coffee Beans, Study Finds

20 Jun 2017 --- Researchers have found that increased roasting of coffee beans leads to a reduction of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. To gain a better understanding of the health benefits of coffee, researchers compared the caffeine and chlorogenic acid components of coffee beans at different roasting levels and tested the protective antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of the different coffee extracts in human cell models.

The researchers measured the levels of caffeine and chlorogenic acid and evaluated the effects of Coffea arabica green coffee extracts roasted at levels corresponding to Light, Medium, City and French roast. Whereas the caffeine levels did not differ greatly between the various roasting levels, the levels of chlorogenic acid did vary and correlated with the differences shown in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity.

The results, linking increasing degree of roasting to reduced antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, have been published in the Journal of Medicinal Food, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert publishers. The article is available on the Journal of Medicinal Food website until 19 July, 2017.

"When people think of coffee, they often associate the beverage with caffeine. However, coffee beans have many other chemicals that could help fight chronic inflammatory diseases," says Journal of Medicinal Food Editor-in-Chief Sampath Parthasarathy, MBA, Ph.D., Florida Hospital Chair in Cardiovascular Sciences and Interim Associate Dean, College of Medicine, University of Central Florida. 

"Coffee drinkers are passionate about different roasts-light, medium and dark. This study suggests that some of the potentially beneficial compounds could be affected by the roasting process. This article would certainly change my coffee roast preference," Parthasarathy concludes.