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IN PHOTO: A cup of coffee is served at a coffee shop in Caracas February 26, 2015. Venezuela, once a proud exporter of premium coffee, has been reduced to swapping crude oil for growing volumes of Nicaraguan coffee beans to make sure worsening economic turmoil does not prevent people from getting their caffeine fix. For the first time on record, coffee imports this year will exceed the bean output of Venezuela's centuries-old coffee industry, according to U.S. government estimates. The South American country's shift from net coffee exporter to substantial importer has altered flows in regional markets, boosting prices for some varieties of coffee. Picture taken February 26, 2015. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

A daily cup of coffee is full of anti-oxidants that have immense healing and anti-ageing properties. Coffee, which has always suffered from bad press due to the presence of caffeine, has finally found its place in the sun. It is good news for coffee drinkers who can now consume their favourite beverage without guilt.

The coffee roasting process is the important aspect for the presence of anti-oxidants in the beverage. Dr. Gordon Troup and his collaborators at the Melbourne’s Monash University studied the amount of free radicals and anti-oxidants present within the coffee bean. According to Science, the free radicals are chemicals which are unstable and seek electrons to stabilize themselves. These are instrumental in destruction of body tissues and also cause cellular and DNA damage. Dr. Troup studied the presence of free radicals and found that their presence depended upon the roasting process.

Dr. Troup, in his research paper published in the journal Plous One, identified the presence of three types of free radicals in Arabica coffee beans. He found that the first free radical, which is present from the time of germination, is destroyed during the early stages of roasting. The second is destroyed because of the medium temperatures during roasting, but the third survives until the end. According to Stuff.co.nz, Dr. Troup is the first scientist to isolate the free radicals in the coffee bean.

In his research, Dr. Troup and his associates found that coffee taste can be enhanced by blending different kinds of coffee varieties. “The increase in ageing and roasting process would help in reducing the free radicals which would improve the antioxidant properties of the brew,” said Troup, adding that “A fine understanding of what is happening at the cellular level would help in isolating the free radicals.”

The study was undertaken in Collaboration with Simon Drew from the University of Melbourne and was co-funded by the Italian Coffee roasting company Illycaffe.

For questions/comments regarding the article, you may email the writer at honeygeorge74.ibtimes@gmail.com.

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