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Differences Between Coffee and Tea

Ibrahim Allush completed a laboratory exercise on coffee and tea. Tea originated in China around 2700 BC while coffee originated in Ethiopia in the 9th century AD. Both plants are members of the evergreen family and are pruned to be shrubs for easy harvesting. Tea leaves are dried and sometimes fermented to create different types of teas. Coffee beans are dried and roasted at different temperatures to produce different caffeine levels and flavors. While coffee and tea both contain caffeine, tea contains 15-70 mg per cup compared to 80-185 mg in coffee. Tea also contains L-theanine, which may increase alpha waves in the brain and affect neurotransmitters, temporarily improving attention when combined with caffeine.

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42 views2 pages

Differences Between Coffee and Tea

Ibrahim Allush completed a laboratory exercise on coffee and tea. Tea originated in China around 2700 BC while coffee originated in Ethiopia in the 9th century AD. Both plants are members of the evergreen family and are pruned to be shrubs for easy harvesting. Tea leaves are dried and sometimes fermented to create different types of teas. Coffee beans are dried and roasted at different temperatures to produce different caffeine levels and flavors. While coffee and tea both contain caffeine, tea contains 15-70 mg per cup compared to 80-185 mg in coffee. Tea also contains L-theanine, which may increase alpha waves in the brain and affect neurotransmitters, temporarily improving attention when combined with caffeine.

Uploaded by

Arcel Pasia Igasan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as RTF, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Name: Ibrahim (Abraham) Allush

Date: 10/12/2014

Laboratory Exercise title: Coffee and Tea

Description of what you did or learned:

Tea originated as far back as 2700 BC, in the Yunnan province, of China. Coffee is said to have
originated in 9th century AD Ethiopia. Legends attributed to the discovery of both of these
stimulant plant products tell the tale of flukes or accidents causing the discovery of their
properties when ingested.

Tea and coffee are both members of the evergreen family. The plants that are used industrially
are kept to the height of a shrub so they can be easily harvested. Tea leafs are dried and some
fermented, to create different types of teas. Different teas call for the tea leafs to be plucked
earlier or later.

The product of the plant that makes coffee is the bean. The bean is first left to dry, then roasted
at different times and temperatures to create different roast degrees, with varying caffeine
amounts. The darker the roast, the less caffeine is present. Coffee is not generally considered
to be beneficial to health, nor is it considered particularly detrimental to health when used in
normal quantities.

The main similarity between Coffee and tea is the caffeine content. Coffee has 80-185 mg per
cup, depending on how its brewed and the coffee roast used. (1) Tea on the other hand has 15-
70mg per cup, or 55mg per cup. Other compounds abound, like theophyline, theobromine,
abound in both. These are alkaloids related to caffeine, and are also metabolites of the caffeine
alkaloid when ingested by humans. Coffee is known to increase cortisol even when caffeine is
removed (decaffeinated).

L-theanine, which is a product unique to tea, is said to increase the generation of Alpha waves in
the brain. This might be causing teas relaxing effect. L-theanine may effect the
neurotransmitters GABA and dopamine. Some studies say that L-theanine and caffeine together
can temporarily improve attention. (2)

1. http://www.diffen.com/difference/Coffee_vs_Tea Coffee Vs. Tea. Accessed 10/12/2014.

2. http://jn.nutrition.org/content/138/8/1572S.short L-Theanine and Caffeine in Combination


Affect Human Cognition as Evidenced by Oscillatory alpha-Band Activity and Attention Task
Performance. Accessed 10/12/14
Responses to 4 questions:

How did this activity fit into what we have been discussing in class?
In class we've been discussing the use of plants for the benefit of humans, and how
humans have discovered and used plants. These are prime example of humans using a
plant(s) for a desired effect.
What was one new thing you learned or discovered during this activity?
I learned that the discovery of tea is over 4000 years old. I also learned that caffeine
content is not the only thing to consider when choosing a stimulating beverage. I
learned that L-theanine effects neurotransmitters and leads to increased alpha brain
waves.
What was one unanswered question that was raised in your mind?
What ingredients in coffee increase cortisol, independant of caffeine? How does tea
compare to Yerba Mate or other caffiene/alkaloid containing plants like Cocoa.
What would you recommend to improve the activity?
I like how this activity was fairly open ended. I was able to focus my report on what I
deemed interesting: the alkaloid content and thier psychoactive effects. Others could
choose to focus on social and cultural effects of the plants.

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