Re: Low-caffeine coffees

Bargyla Rateaver (brateaver@earthlink.net)
Sun, 16 May 1999 07:53:01 -0700

I remember now, it was Dr. Mrak at UC Davis to whom I spoke about the Madagascar
coffee so low in or without caffeine, but he never did anything about it--and he
was one who, with his position and reputation, probably could have done
something. Not that I regret this--I never want to drink that kind of stuff.
================

Anton Doroszenko (TL, Fld Crp) wrote:

> The paper referred to below states that the selection of C. liberica var.
> dewevrei the authors were using had 1% caffeine on a dry weight basis, and
> that C. pseudozanguebariae contains a large amount of a specific heteroside
> [glycoside] diterpene which is involved in the bitterness of the coffee
> beverage. Analysis of caffeine content indicated that this trait is under
> polygenic control with a strong genetic effect. However, only one major gene
> seemed to be involved in the control of presence/absence of caffeine in
> beans. The specific heteroside diterpene seemed to be controlled by one
> major gene.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Bluestem Associates [SMTP:bluestem@webserf.net]
> > Sent: Friday, May 14, 1999 3:15 PM
> > To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu
> > Subject: Low-caffeine coffees
> >
> > On Fri, 14 May 1999 06:49:14 -0700, Anton Doroszenko (TL, Fld Crp)
> > wrote:
> >
> > >Barre, P. et al. (1998) Inheritance of caffeine and heteroside contents
> > in
> > >an interspecific cross between a cultivated coffee species Coffea
> > liberica
> >
> > ^^^^^^^^^^^
> > >var. dewevrei and a wild species caffeine-free C. pseudozanguebariae.
> > >Theoretical and Applied Genetics vol 96 no. 2 pp. 306-311
> >
> > Did they state why they crossed it with *liberica*? That species is
> > generally known for its extremely high caffeine content (in some cases
> > exceeding 8% !!). Typically arabica X3 = robusta X3 = liberica for
> > caffeine content.
> >
> > A lot of the Andean arabicas are well below 1% caffeine, depending on
> > the strain grown. There may be arabica strains out there that are
> > virtually caffeine free already but no one has prospected them. They
> > probably get mixed in with higher caffeine stuff and disappear into
> > commerce unnoticed.
> >
> > Most of the organic coffees out of the Andes are low-caffeine arabicas
> > and quite a good brew if roasted right.
> >
> >
> >
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