THE CHOLESTEROL-RAISING FACTOR FROM COFFEE BEANS

Some coffee brewing techniques raise the serum concentration of total and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol in humans, whereas others do n ot. The responsible factors are the diterpene lipids cafestol and kahw eol, which make up about 1% (wt:wt) of coffee beans. Diterpenes are ex tracted by hot water but are retained by a paper filter. This explains why filtered coffee does not affect cholesterol, whereas Scandinavian ''boiled.'' cafetiere, and Turkish coffees do. We describe the identi fication of the cholesterol-raising factors, their effects on blood le vels of lipids and liver function enzymes, and their impact on public health, based on papers published up to December 1996.