Kahweol and cafestol, diterpenes from the unsaponifiable fraction of coffee, present known effects on human health such as anticarcinogenic and hipercholesterolemic activities. There are discrepancies regarding the levels reported for these compounds in roasted coffee, probably due to the extraction processes. Therefore, four sample preparation methods were studied: direct hot saponification (DHS), direct cold saponification (DCS); and Bligh and Dyer (BD) or Soxhlet (SO) extraction followed by saponification. The levels of diterpenes and their dehydro derivatives obtained by high performance liquid chromatography with diode array and mass spectrometry detectors (HPLC-DAD-MS/MS) and the chromatographic profiles of roasted coffee, obtained by these four methods, were compared. DHS was more efficient for extraction, showing better separation of chromatographic peaks and levels of 930.2 (± 36.8), 113.2 (± 4.7), 568.6 (± 16.6) and 87.1 (± 3.7) mg 100 g-1 for kahweol, dehydrokahweol, cafestol and dehydrocafestol, respectively. The DHS extract presented a diterpene content (kahweol and cafestol) 15% superior to that of DCS and up to 88% superior than using SO and BD methods.
direct saponification; soxhlet; Bligh and Dyer; diterpenes; dehydroditerpenes
