Abstract
Caffeine is the most abundant and important purine alkaloid derived from several important crop, such as coffee, tea, cocoa, guarana, and other plants. In tea and coffee plants, caffeine is predominantly produced in the young buds of leaves and in immature fruits. The effect of light-stimulating caffeine biosynthesis is uncertain, but our results clearly show that light, independent of N-availability, increases caffeine (26%), allantoin (47%), and theophylline (8%) content in plants compared with those grown in a shaded (50% solar irradiation) environment. Caffeine is the major low-molecular-weight nitrogenous compound in coffee plants, and at times, it functions as a chemical defense for new bud leaves. Therefore, the primary question that remains is whether caffeine can serve as a nitrogen source for other metabolic pathways. If so, plants grown under a low nitrogen concentration should promote caffeine degradation, with the consequent use of nitrogen atoms (e.g., in NH3) for the construction of other nitrogen compounds that are used for the plant's metabolism. Our results provide strong evidence that caffeine is degraded into allantoin at low rates in N-deficient plants but not in N-enriched ones. By contrast, this degradation may represent a significant N-source in N-deficient plants.
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Claims 5
Claim · model-written summary
Light increased caffeine content by 26% relative to shade.
- Taxon
- Coffea arabica L.
Coffea arabicat0 - Treatment
- lighte0
- Outcome
- caffeinee0
- Direction
- increasese0
- Value
- 26%e0
- Qualifier
- independent of N-availabilitye0
- Comparator
- those grown in a shaded (50% solar irradiation) environmente0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Coffea arabica L.”
e0“light, independent of N-availability, increases caffeine (26%), allantoin (47%), and theophylline (8%) content in plants compared with those grown in a shaded (50% solar irradiation) environment”
Claim · model-written summary
Light increased allantoin content by 47% relative to shade.
- Taxon
- Coffea arabica L.Coffea arabicat0
- Treatment
- lighte0
- Outcome
- allantoine0
- Direction
- increasese0
- Value
- 47%e0
- Qualifier
- independent of N-availabilitye0
- Comparator
- those grown in a shaded (50% solar irradiation) environmente0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Coffea arabica L.”
e0“light, independent of N-availability, increases caffeine (26%), allantoin (47%), and theophylline (8%) content in plants compared with those grown in a shaded (50% solar irradiation) environment”
Claim · model-written summary
Light increased theophylline content by 8% relative to shade.
- Taxon
- Coffea arabica L.Coffea arabicat0
- Treatment
- lighte0
- Outcome
- theophyllinee0
- Direction
- increasese0
- Value
- 8%e0
- Qualifier
- independent of N-availabilitye0
- Comparator
- those grown in a shaded (50% solar irradiation) environmente0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Coffea arabica L.”
e0“light, independent of N-availability, increases caffeine (26%), allantoin (47%), and theophylline (8%) content in plants compared with those grown in a shaded (50% solar irradiation) environment”
Claim · model-written summary
In nitrogen-deficient plants, caffeine was degraded into allantoin at low rates, unlike nitrogen-enriched plants.
- Taxon
- Coffea arabica L.Coffea arabicat0
- Treatment
- N-deficiente0
- Outcome
- caffeine is degraded into allantoine0
- Qualifier
- at low ratese0
- Comparator
- N-enrichede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Coffea arabica L.”
e0“caffeine is degraded into allantoin at low rates in N-deficient plants but not in N-enriched ones”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors interpret caffeine degradation as a potentially significant nitrogen source in nitrogen-deficient plants.
- Taxon
- Coffea arabica L.Coffea arabicat0
- Outcome
- significant N-sourcee0
- Qualifier
- this degradation may represente0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“Coffea arabica L.”
e0“this degradation may represent a significant N-source in N-deficient plants”
The same questions in other papers
light · molecular: metabolites · Coffea arabica (arabica coffee)Results agree
2 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.