Chlorogenic acid

June 10, 2013
Image of Chlorogenic acid 3D Image of Chlorogenic acid

Chlorogenic acid is an ester formed from caffeic acid and L-quinic acid. Despite its name, it contains no chlorine atoms; scientists created the name after they observed that the acid turns the green color of chlorine gas when oxidized. An important factor in plant metabolism, it was first isolated from coffee beans in 1920 by K. Freudenberg. Chlorogenic acid and its isomers also occur in the fruit, leaves, and other tissues of dicotyledenous plants.

The chlorogenic acids in coffee beans are destroyed when the beans are roasted. But J. A. Vinson and colleagues at the University of Scranton (PA) recently found that consuming the chlorogenic acid–rich extracts of green coffee beans promotes weight loss and improves glucose tolerance in humans.

[Even though the use of chlorogenic acids for weight loss appears to be in the developmental phase, DietWorks (Caldwell, NJ) is marketing a green coffee bean extract dietary supplement that it calls “a clinically tested weight management formula”.—Ed.]

MOTW update: 
September 5, 2022

Chlorogenic acid1 (CGA) is an ester formed from caffeic acid and L-quinic acid, it is found in the fruit, leaves, and other tissues of dicotyledonous plants and is an important factor in plant metabolism.

CGA is a known anti-inflammatory agent. In August, Chuqiao Wang, Honggang Fan, and colleagues at Northeast Agricultural University (Harbin, China) and South China Agricultural University (Guangzhou) reported that CGA, along with the polyunsaturated fatty acid derivative resolvin D12, reduced hepatic hemorrhage and inflammatory cell infiltration and had other liver-protective effects in rats that had been subjected to chronic restraint-induced stress.

1. CAS Reg. No. 202650-88-2.
2. CAS Reg. No. 872993-05-0.

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