Coffee, colon function and colorectal cancer Paola Vitaglione, a Vincenzo Fogliano a and Nicoletta Pellegrini * b Received 24th February 2012, Accepted 16th April 2012 DOI: 10.1039/c2fo30037k For several years the physiological effects of coffee have been focused on its caffeine content, disregarding the hundreds of bioactive coffee components, such as polyphenols, melanoidins, carbohydrates, diterpenes, etc. These compounds may exert their protection against colorectal cancer (CRC), the third most common cancer worldwide. However, the amount and type of compounds ingested with the beverage may be highly different depending on the variety of coffee used, the roasting degree, the type of brewing method as well as the serving size. In this frame, this paper reviews the mechanisms by which coffee may influence the risk of CRC development focusing on espresso and filtered coffee, as well as on the components that totally or partially reach the colon i.e. polyphenols and dietary fiber, including melanoidins. In particular the effects of coffee on some colon conditions whose deregulation may lead to cancer, namely microbiota composition and lumen reducing environment, were considered. Taken together the discussed studies indicated that, due to their in vivo metabolism and composition, both coffee chlorogenic acids and dietary fiber, including melanoidins, may reduce CRC risk, increasing colon motility and antioxidant status. Further studies should finally assess whether the coffee benefits for colon are driven through a prebiotic effect. Introduction Coffee is one of the most consumed beverage worldwide with a yearly world average consumption of 1.1 kg per capita, reaching 4.5 kg in industrialized countries. 1 For this reason the association between its consumption and the development of chronic diseases, which may be modulated by environmental and lifestyle factors, has been described in several epidemiological studies. 2,3 Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer worldwide, 4 colon cancer being approximately 70%–80% of the whole colorectal cancers in developed countries. 5,6 The high variation of incidence rates (more than 25-folds) across countries indicates that this pathology is highly influenced by lifestyle and dietary pattern factors. 4 For several years the physiological effects of coffee have been focused on its caffeine content, actually, coffee contains hundreds of compounds beyond caffeine that may potentially act in vivo, such as polyphenols, melanoidins, carbohydrates, Paola Vitaglione Paola Vitaglione got her M.Sc. degree in Food Science and Technology in 1998 and her PhD in Food and Health in 2004. Since 2007 she has been a lecturer of Human Nutrition in the Department of Food Science at University of Naples, Italy. Her research activity is mainly focused on the development of functional foods and the evalua- tion of their efficacy in human trials, bioavailability of bioac- tive compounds, and evaluation of satiating effect of foods. Vincenzo Fogliano Vincenzo Fogliano is Professor of Food Chemistry and Func- tional Foods at the Department of Food Science, University of Naples, Italy. He has published many papers on the Maillard reaction, food bioactive compounds and dietary fibre aiming at elucidating the biochemical pathways relating food components and the diet with human health and well being. a Department of Food Science, Federico II University of Naples, Parco Gussone, 80055, Portici (Napoli), Italy b Department of Public Health, University of Parma, Via Volturno 39, 43125, Parma, Italy. E-mail: nicoletta.pellegrini@unipr.it; Fax: + 39 0521 903832; Tel: +39 0521 903709 This journal is ª The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012 Food Funct. Dynamic Article Links C < Food & Function Cite this: DOI: 10.1039/c2fo30037k www.rsc.org/foodfunction REVIEW Downloaded by RSC Internal on 30 May 2012 Published on 25 May 2012 on http://pubs.rsc.org | doi:10.1039/C2FO30037K View Online / Journal Homepage