3,4-DIMETHOXYCINNAMIC ACID LEVELS AS A TOOL FOR DIFFERENTIATION OF COFFEA-CANEPHORA VAR. ROBUSTA AND COFFEA-ARABICA

Thirteen green Coffea canephora var. robusta and seven green Coffea ar abica coffee beans from different geographical origins were analysed b y HPLC/diode-array detector for hydroxycinnamic acids (HCAs) discrimin ation and quantification to assess the possible markers for their bota nical and geographical origins. While the HCAs, p-coumaric, o-coumaric and 3,4-dimethoxycinnamic acids were detected in the majority of samp les, caffeic and ferulic acids were present in all of them. Sinapic an d 4-methoxycinnamic acids were found in only one sample from Mexico an d Honduras, respectively. In spite of the preliminary nature of this s tudy, it seems that the relative amount of the HCAs could be related t o the botanical origin of coffee. In fact, Coffea canephora var. robus ta contains a higher level of 3,4-dimethoxycinnamic ((X) over bar +/- SD:0.433 +/- 0.15, ranging from 0.237 to 0.691 g kg(-1)) than the Coff ea arabica samples ((X) over bar +/- SD:0.059 +/- 0.03, ranging from 0 .016 to 0.095 g kg(-1)). (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights res erved.