AN INVESTIGATION OF CAFFEINE CONTENT IN COFFEE

A Project Report

Submitted by
SANSKRITI KHANDELWAL

In partial fulfilment of the

CBSE GRADE XII
IN
ENGLISH
AT

AECS MAGNOLIA MAARUTI PUBLIC SCHOOL

Arakere, off Bannergatta Road, Banglore-560076
2024-2025
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I warmly acknowledge the continuous encouragement and timely suggestion

offered by our dear Director Dr. Seema Goel. I extend my hearty thanks for giving
me an opportunity to make use of the facilities available in the campus to carry out
the project successfully.
I am highly indebted to Ms. Pragyan Das for the constant supervision, providing
necessary information and support in completing the project. I would like to
express my gratitude towards them for their kind co-operation and encouragement.
Finally, I extend my gratefulness to one and all who are directly or indirectly
involved in the successful completion of this project work.

Signature of the Candidate

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 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that SANSKRITI KHANDELWAL of Grade XII, AECS

MAGNOLIA MAARUTI PUBLIC SCHOOL, BANGLORE has satisfactorily
completed the project in ENGLISH on AN INVESTIGATION OF CAFFEINE
CONTENT IN COFFEE in partial fulfillment of requirements as prescribed by
CBSE in the year 2024-2025.

Signature of the Candidate Signature of the Teacher in- charge

Signature of the Principal Signature of the Examiner

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 INDEX

Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................6
TYPES OF COFFEE...................................................................................................................................8
History of Coffee....................................................................................................................................9
THEORY................................................................................................................................................11
Health effects..................................................................................................................................12
Stimulate effects..............................................................................................................................12
Physical effects................................................................................................................................13
Psychological effects........................................................................................................................14
Health hazard..................................................................................................................................15
Facts about caffeine............................................................................................................................16
AIM......................................................................................................................................................17
REQUIREMENTS...................................................................................................................................18
PROCEDURE.........................................................................................................................................19
OBSERVATION.....................................................................................................................................21
RESULT.................................................................................................................................................21
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................................22
BIBLIOGRAPHY.....................................................................................................................................23

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 INTRODUCTION
Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from roasted coffee beans, which
are the seeds of berries from the Coffea plant. The genus Coffea is
native to tropical Africa (specifically having its origin in Ethiopia and
Sudan) and Madagascar, the Comoros, Mauritius, and Réunion in the
Indian Ocean. The plant was exported from Africa to countries
around the world and coffee plants are now cultivated in over 70
countries, primarily in the equatorial regions of the Americas,
Southeast Asia, India, and Africa. The two most commonly grown are
the highly regarded arabica, and the less sophisticated but stronger
and more hardy robusta. Once ripe, coffee berries are picked,
processed, and dried. Dried coffee seeds (referred to as beans) are
roasted to varying degrees, depending on the desired flavor. Roasted
beans are ground and brewed with near boiling water to produce
coffee as a beverage.

Coffee is slightly acidic and can have a stimulating effect on humans

because of its caffeine content. Coffee is one of the most popular
drinks in the world. It can be prepared and presented in a variety of
ways (e.g., espresso, French press, cafe latte, etc.). It is usually served
hot, although iced coffee is also served. Clinical studies indicate that
moderate coffee consumption is benign or mildly beneficial in
healthy adults, with continuing research on whether long-term
consumption inhibits cognitive decline during aging or lowers the risk
of some forms of cancer.

The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking appears in the

middle of the 15th century in the Sufi shrines of Yemen.[6] It was
here in Arabia that coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed in a
similar way to how it is now prepared. Coffee seeds were first
exported from East Africa to Yemen, as the coffea arabica plant is
thought to have been indigenous to the former. Yemeni traders took
coffee back to their homeland and began to cultivate the seed. By

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the 16th century, it had reached Persia,Turkey and North Africa.
From there, it spread to Europe and the rest of the world.

Coffee is a major export commodity: it is the top agricultural export

for numerous countries and is among the world's largest legal
agricultural exports. It is one of the most valuable commodities
exported by developing countries. Green (unroasted) coffee is one of
the most traded agricultural commodities in the world. Some
controversy is associated with coffee cultivation and the way
developed countries trade with developing nations and the impact of
its cultivation on the environment, in regards to clearing of land for
coffee-growing and water use. Consequently, the markets for fair
trade coffee and organic coffee are expanding.

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TYPES OF COFFEE
Following are two major types of coffee;
1)ROBUSTA COFFEE
Robusta coffee is coffee made from the Coffea canephora plant, a sturdy
species of coffee bean with low acidity and high bitterness. C. canephora
beans (widely known by the synonym Coffea robusta) are used primarily in
instant coffee, espresso, and as a filler in ground coffee blends.

2)COFFEE ARABICA
Coffea arabica is a species of Coffea originally indigenous to the forests of
the southwestern highlands of Ethiopia. It is also known as the "coffee shrub
of Arabia", "mountain coffee", or "arabica coffee". C. arabica is believed to
be the first species of coffee to be cultivated, and is by far the dominant
cultivar, representing some 70% of global production. Coffee produced from
the less acidic, more bitter, and more highly caffeinated robusta bean (C.
canephora) makes up the preponderance of the balance.

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 History of Coffee
The earliest credible evidence of either coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee
tree appears in the middle of the 15th century, in Yemen's Sufi monasteries.
Coffee beans were first exported from Karachi to Yemen. Yemeni traders brought
coffee back to their homeland and began to cultivate the bean. The word qahwa
originally meant wine, and Sufis in Yemen used the beverage as an aid to
concentration and as a kind of spiritual intoxication when they chanted the name of
God. Sufis used it to keep themselves alert during their night-time devotions. A
translation of Al-Jaziri's manuscript traces the spread of coffee from Arabia Felix
(the present day Yemen) northward to Mecca and Medina, and then to the larger
cities of Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad, and Constantinople. By 1414, the beverage
was known in Mecca, and in the early 1500s was spreading to the Mameluke
Sultanate of Egypt and North Africa from the Yemeni port of Mocha. Associated
with Sufism, a myriad of coffee houses grew up in Cairo (Egypt) around the
religious University of the Azhar. These coffee houses also opened in Syria,
especially in the cosmopolitan city of Aleppo, and then in Istanbul, the capital of
the Ottoman Empire, in 1554.[14] In 1511, it was forbidden for its stimulating
effect by conservative, orthodox imams at a theological court in Mecca. However,
these bans were to be overturned in 1524 by an order of the Ottoman Turkish
Sultan Suleiman I, with Grand Mufti Mehmet Ebussuud el-İmadi issuing a fatwa
allowing the consumption of coffee. In Cairo, Egypt, a similar ban was instituted in
1532, and the coffeehouses and warehouses containing coffee beans were sacked.
During the 16th century, it had already reached the rest of the Middle East, the
Safavid Empire and the Ottoman Empire. From the Middle East, coffee drinking
spread to Italy, then to the rest of Europe, and coffee plants were transported by the
Dutch to the East Indies and to the Americas.
Similarly, coffee was banned by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church some time before
the 18th century. However, in the second half of the 19th century, Ethiopian
attitudes softened towards coffee drinking, and its consumption spread rapidly
between 1880 and 1886; according to Richard Pankhurst, "this was largely due to
Emperor Menilek, who himself drank it, and to Abuna Matewos who did much to
dispel the belief of the clergy that it was a Muslim drink."
The earliest mention of coffee noted by the literary coffee merchant Philippe
Sylvestre Dufour is a reference to bunchum in the works of the 10th century CE
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Persian physician Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi, known as Rhazes in the West,
but more definite information on the preparation of a beverage from the roasted
coffee berries dates from several centuries later. One of the most important of the
early writers on coffee was Abd al-Qadir al-Jaziri, who in 1587 compiled a work
tracing the history and legal controversies of coffee entitled Umdat al safwa fi hill
al-qahwa. He reported that one Sheikh, Jamal-al-Din al-Dhabhani (d. 1470), mufti
of Aden, was the first to adopt the use of coffee (circa 1454).
He found that among its properties was that it drove away fatigue and lethargy, and
brought to the body a certain sprightliness and vigour.

THEORY

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Caffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid and a stimulant drug.
Caffeine is found in varying quantities in the seeds, leaves, and fruits of some
plants, where it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain insects
feeding on plants, as well as enhancing the reward memory of pollinators. It is most
commonly consumed by humans in infusions extracted from the seed of the coffee
plant and the leaves of the tea bush, as well as from various foods and drinks
containing products derived from the kola nut.
In humans, caffeine acts as a central nervous system stimulant, temporarily warding
off drowsiness and restoring alertness. It is the worlds most widely consumed
psychoactive drug, but unlike many other psychoactive substance, it is legal and
unregulated in nearly all parts of the world. Beverages containing caffeine, such as
coffee, tea, soft drinks and energy drinks enjoy great popularity. In North America,
90% of adults consume caffeine daily.
Health effects

Stimulate effects
Caffeine is a central nervous system and metabolic stimulant, and is used both
recreationally and medically to reduce physical fatigue and to restore alertness
when drowsiness occurs. It produces increased wakefulness, faster and clearer flow
of though, increased focus and better general body coordination. The amount of
caffeine needed to produce effects varies from person to person, depending on body
size and degree of tolerance. An effect being less than an hour after consumption
and a moderate dose usually wears off in about five hours.

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Caffeine has a number of effects on sleep, but does not affect all people in same
way. It improves performance during sleep deprivation but may lead to subsequent
insomnia. In athletics, moderate doses of caffeine can improve sprint, endurance,
and team sports performance, but the improvements are usually very large. Some
evidence suggests that coffee does not produce the ergogenic effects observed in
other caffeine sources. High doses of caffeine however can impair athletic
performance by interfering with coordination. There is also evidence that caffeine
may be helpful at high altitude.
Physical effects
Consumption of 1000-1500 mg per day is associated with a condition known as
caffeinism. Caffeinism usually combines caffeine depending with a wide range of
unpleasant physical and mental condition including nervousness, irritability,
insomnia, headaches, and heart palpitations after caffeine use.
Coffee consumption is associated with a lower overall risk of cancer. This is
primarily due to a decrease in risks of hepatocellular and endometrial cancer, but it
may also have a modest effect on colorectal cancer. There does not appear to be a
significant protective effect against other types of cancer, and heavy coffee
consumption may increase the risk of bladder cancer. Moderate coffee consumption
may decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease, and it may somewhat reduce the
risk of type two diabetes. Drinking four or more cups of coffee per day does not
affect the risk of hypertension compared to drinking little or no coffee. However
those who drink 1-3 cups per day may be at a slightly increased risk. Caffeine
increases intraocular pressure in those with glaucoma but does not arrears to affect
normal individuals. It may protect people from liver cirrhosis. There is no evidence
that coffee stunts child’s growth. Caffeine may increase the effectiveness of some
medication including ones used to treat headaches. Similarly, intravenous caffeine
is often used in hospitals to provide temporary pain relief for headaches caused by
low cerebrospinal fluid pressure.
Psychological effects

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The US National Institutes of Health states: Too much caffeine can make you
restless, anxious and irritable. It may also keep you from sleeping well and cause
headaches, abnormal heart rhythms or other problems. If you stop using caffeine it
may cause withdrawal symptoms. Some people are more sensitive to the effects of
caffeine than others. They should limit their use of caffeine.
Caffeine can have negative effects on anxiety disorders. A number of clinical
studies have shown positive association between caffeine and anxiogenic effects
and panic disorder. At high doses, typically greater than 300mg, caffeine can both
cause and worsen anxiety or rarely, trigger maina or psychosis. In moderate doses,
caffeine may reduce symptoms of depression and lower suicide risk. In moderate
doses, caffeine typically does not affect learning or memory and can fatigue,
possibly due to its affect on alertness. For some people, anxiety can be very much
reduced by discontinuing caffeine use.

Health hazard
Caffeine overload can result in a state of central nervous system overstimulation
called caffeine intoxication. This syndrome typically occurs only after ingestion of
large amounts of caffeine, well over the amounts found in typical caffeinated
beverages and caffeine tablets (for example more than 400-500mg at a time). The
symptoms of caffeine intoxication are comparable to the symptoms of overdoses of
other stimulants, they includes restlessness, fidgeting, anxiety, excitement,
insomnia, flushing of face, increased urination, gastrointestinal disturbance, muscle
twitching, a rambling flow of thought and speech, irritability, irregular or rapid
heartbeat and psychomotor agitation.

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 Facts about caffeine
The most important methylated alkaloid that occurs naturally in caffeine. Its
molecular formulae is C8H10N4O2. Its IUPAC name is 1, 3, 7-trimethylxanthene and
common name is 1-methylated tribromide.
Purely it is in white, crystalline solid form of needles. Its melting point is 1230 0 C.
It is the main active principle compound of tea leaves. It is present in tea leaves up
to 3% and can be extracted by first boiling the tea leaves with water which
dissolved many glycoside compounds in addition to caffeine. The clear solution in
then treated with lead acetate to precipitate the glycoside compound in form of lead
complex. The clear filtrate is then extracted with extracts caffeine because it is
more soluble in it then in water.
Uses of caffeine
1. In medicine, it is used to stimulate, central nervous system and to increase flow
of urine.
2. Because of its stimulating effects, caffeine has been used to relive fatigue. But it
is dangerous and one may collapse if not consumes it under certain limit.
3. Caffeine is also used in analgesic tablets, as it is believed to be pain reliever. It is
also beneficial.
Effects of caffeine
1. It is psycho-stimulant.
2. It improves physical and mental ability.
3. Its effects in learning in doubtful but intellectual performance may improve
where it has been used to reduce fatigue or boredom.
4. When administered internally, it stimulates heart and nervous system and also
acts as diuretic. On the contrary their excessive use is harmful to digestion and
their long use leads to mental retardation.

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 AIM
To determine the caffeine content in different brands of Coffee by
filtration.

REQUIREMENTS

1. Concentrated Sulphuric acid

2. Calcium Carbonate
3. Chloroform
4. Beaker
5. Tripod stand
6. Separating funnel
7. Filter paper
8. Coffee sample
9. Burner

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 PROCEDURE

1. In a beaker containing 50g of Coffee powder was taken as sample. And 150 ml
of water was added. Then the solution was brought to extreme boiling.

2. Cool it and filter it with filter paper.

3. To the filtrate, add 1g of calcium carbonate and boil. The calcium present
in compound replaces the hydrogen ion and forms calcium tannate which
is insoluble in water.

Filter this solution using filter paper. To the filtrate, add conc. H 2SO4. The
sulphate group with lead present and precipitates as lead sulphate.
Allow the solution such obtained left to be cooled.

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4. To this solution, add 20 ml chloroform.
5. Pass the mixture through a separation funnel. Chloroform forms a separate layer
distinguishing layers of water and the organic solvent.

6. Drain the lower layer of liquid and leave it to evaporate. On evaporation of the
chloroform, the residue left behind is caffeine.
7. Then weighed it and recorded the observation.

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 OBSERVATION

COFFEE SAMPLES AMOUNT OF CAFFEINE % OF

COFFEE SAMPLE CONTENT IN CAFFEINE
TAKEN (g) COFFEE SAMPLE
(g)

Bru 50 3.7 7.5%

Nescafe 50 2.5 5.0%

Tata Coffee 50 3.2 6.5%

Ruby 50 3.6 7.2%

RESULT

The various coffee brands were analyzed for their caffeine content and the overall
report of project was compiled in the tabular form as given in the observation.
Bru found to have the highest amount of caffeine content in the observed samples.
It was found that the Bru sample contains 7.5% of caffeine.

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 CONCLUSION

Nescafe contains about 5% of caffeine.

Bru found to have the highest amount of caffeine content in the observed samples.
It was found that the Bru sample contains 7.5% of caffeine.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Biology practical lab manual

 www.google/images.co.in

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