Boffins hunch over steaming cups of coffee to find HIDDEN SECRETS of caffeine

A crack team of international researchers have revealed the freshly sequenced genome of the coffee plant and, as a result, unearthed interesting findings about the kick ass chemical caffeine.

Scientists found that coffee developed caffeine-linked genes independently of any common ancestor, such as chocolate and tea.

The boffins pored over "a high-quality draft" of the genome of Coffee canephora, which - we're told - accounts for roughly 30 per cent of the globe's coffee production.

They were able to find special qualities in the plant that were distinct from the genetic make-up of other species such as the grape and tomato.

The researchers said that coffee "harbours larger families of genes that relate to the production of alkaloid and flavonoid compounds," which in turn accounts for the strong, heady aroma of a cup of joe. It also explains the bitterness of the beans.

Lots more caffeine-making enzymes are packed into coffee compared with other plants, the boffins said. It carries an "expanded collection of N-methyltransferases" apparently.

But coffee's caffeine enzymes have bigger links with other genes found in the coffee plant compared with those caffeine enzymes commonly found in tea and chocolate.

Researchers were able to conclude that coffee appeared to have independently produced caffeine due to the marked difference in enzymes uncovered in the genome sequence.

Victor Albert, professor of biological sciences at the University at Buffalo, said:

The coffee genome helps us understand what's exciting about coffee other than that it wakes me up in the morning.

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Boffins hunch over steaming cups of coffee to find HIDDEN SECRETS of caffeine