Title : Bioactivity of coffee substitute
Abstract:
Neuroactive β-carbolines in food are recently the subject of many studies consideration, so on the basis of our previous research (Wojtowicz, Zawirska-Wojtasiak, Przygo?ski & Mildner-Szkudlarz, 2015, Food Chem., 175, 280-283) chicory was chosen from among the traditionally used ingredients of coffee substitutes as the one with the highest carbolines content; artichoke was chosen from the few newly proposed ingredients using the same criterion. β-carbolines have been ascribed neuroactive effects in humans, however their positive or negative effect has not been confirmed yet. Two selected material as well as their mixtures were considered both from the neuroactive point of view but also in relation to the bioactive compounds that result from their thermal processing because of their possible toxic properties: acrylamide (ACR), carboxymethyllysine (CML) and furanes. The addition of artichoke to chicory should not be higher than 30% from sensory point of view. Chicory and artichoke contained high levels of β-carbolines. Artichoke appears to be a richer source of β-carbolines than the traditionally chicory, and its addition increases the concentration of β-carbolines. Both materials contained high level of undesirable components, such as furan and its derivatives, ACR and CML, higher in artichoke. The values for this toxic components, reported in this study, however high, they are not in the case of furan exceeded those in coffee or in case of ACR are far below EU recommendation. The antioxidant properties, measured by TP, ABTS and DPPH tests and concentration of phenols, of both materials were good and rather similar. This study being the first step of further actually going on research, are expected to help in clarifying the problem whether drinking coffee substitute in every day diet might be beneficial or harmful for human health.
