Discovery of caffeine

The use of caffeine from plants is estimated to date back to the Stone Age. Paleolithic humans chewed the leaves, seeds and bark from caffeine containing plants increase energy and elevate moods.

Later on, it was found that the effects of caffine were increased by steeping such plants in hot water.

The Turks were the first people to adopt coffee as a drink. Under Turkish law, a woman could divorce he husband if he failed to provide her with a daily quota of coffee.

Coffee as a beverage was first imported in Europe by the Venetian Prospero Alpino in 1570.

The discovery of caffeine is attributed to Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge (1795-1867). Runge isolated a stimulant alkaloid from mocha beans given to him by the German poet and chemist Goethe in 1821 and named it caffeine.

Caffeine derives its name from the Kaffa region of Ethiopia.

The chemical structure was established by Emil Fischer at the University of Berlin in 1882, He also synthesized it three years later.

Caffeine was separated from tea in 1827. Initially the compound isolated from tea was named theine, but this was eventually shown to be caffeine.

It had already been observed in 1850 that ingested caffeine was not recovered in urine.

Nowadays, caffeine can be found in dietary products like coffee, tea, mate and chocolate as well as an additive to soft drinks, particularly in the so called ‘energy drinks’.

Caffeine can have several adverse effects. The chronic use of caffeine can cause irritability, nervousness, dehydration and tolerance.
Discovery of caffeine