Journal of Food and Nutrition Research, 2020, Vol. 8, No. 12, 722-729 Available online at http://pubs.sciepub.com/jfnr/8/12/5 Published by Science and Education Publishing DOI:10.12691/jfnr-8-12-5 Anti-inflammatory and Antinociceptive Activities of Decaffeinated Coffee Maria Eliza de Castro Moreira 1 , Rosemary Gualberto Fonseca Alvarenga Pereira 2 , Daniele Ferreira Dias 3 , Claudinei Alves da Silva 4 , Thiago Corrêa de Souza 5 , Éderson D’Martin Costa 6 , Bárbara Pereira da Silva 1,* , Stella Maris da Silveira Duarte 6 , Alexandre Giusti-Paiva 7 , Marcelo Henrique dos Santos 8 1 Faculdade Dinâmica do Vale do Piranga, Ponte Nova, Brazil 2 Department of Food Science of Federal University of Lavras, Lavras, Brazil 3 Institute of Chemistry of Federal University of Alfenas, Alfenas, Brazil 4 Federal University of Jataí, CIEX, Jataí, Brazil 5 Institute of Natural Sciences of Federal University of Alfenas, Alfenas, Brazil 6 Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Federal University of Alfenas, Alfenas, Brazil 7 Department of Biomedical Science of Federal University of Alfenas, Alfenas, Brazil 8 Department of Chemistry of Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil *Corresponding author: Received October 28, 2020; Revised November 29, 2020; Accepted December 08, 2020 Abstract Epidemiological and experimental studies have found that the consumption of regular coffee has various health benefits. In the present study, we investigated the effect of decaffeinated coffee extracts on the inflammation process and found that aqueous extracts of green and roasted coffee have anti-inflammatory activity. The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of aqueous extract of decaffeinated coffee (AD) and ethanol extract of decaffeinated coffee (ED) were evaluated in animal models using a DPPH radical scavenging test. In the formalin test, the extracts reduced licking activity in both late phases. The inhibitory values of oedema 3 h post-carrageenan indicated an anti-inflammatory effect. In the paw pressure test, the animals treated with extracts exhibited a reduction in the withdrawal threshold. These results provide evidence for the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of decaffeinated coffee extracts that can be attributed to the potential of compounds present in coffee. Keywords: antioxidant activity, chlorogenic acid, coffea arabica, hypernociception, inflammation Cite This Article: Maria Eliza de Castro Moreira, Rosemary Gualberto Fonseca Alvarenga Pereira, Daniele Ferreira Dias, Claudinei Alves da Silva, Thiago Corrêa de Souza, Éderson D’Martin Costa, Bárbara Pereira da Silva, Stella Maris da Silveira Duarte, Alexandre Giusti-Paiva, and Marcelo Henrique dos Santos, “Anti-inflammatory and Antinociceptive Activities of Decaffeinated Coffee.” Journal of Food and Nutrition Research, vol. 8, no. 12 (2020): 722-729. doi: 10.12691/jfnr-8-12-5. 1. Introduction Coffee consumption is used for social engagement, leisure, enhancement of work performance and well-being [1]. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in both coffee and coffee constituents for their potentially beneficial and adverse health effects [2]. The coffee beverage is rich in biologically active substances such as nicotinic acid, trigonelline, quinolinic acid, tannic acid, chlorogenic acids, cafestol, pyrogallic acid and caffeine [3,4]. Of the many bioactive molecules of coffee, clinical studies have focused almost exclusively on caffeine. However, coffee contains several other biologically active substances whose relative concentrations vary depending on the type of coffee as well as the brewing process used. Polyphenols and melanoidins are present at relatively high concentrations and have been found to exhibit properties, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective and immunomodulator agent, that benefit human health [5,6,7,8,9]. Coffee is a rich source of antioxidants belonging to the hydroxycinnamic acid family (caffeic, chlorogenic, coumaric, ferrulic and sinapic acids) [10], which can markedly change the total polyphenol intake. The relationship between decaffeinated coffee consumption and health is sometimes used to determine whether the apparent effects of coffee are due to caffeine or other coffee ingredients. A study of the traits of decaffeinated coffee consumers in the US found that decaffeinated coffee consumption could be related to a history of illness in some people but to a healthy lifestyle in others [11]. Another study found that concerns associated with regular coffee could be voided almost entirely with a transition from regular to decaffeinated coffee [12]. Studies have reported that decaffeinated coffee consumption reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes [13,14,15], improve the insulin sensitivity [16] and improve the intestinal barrier integrity [17]. Others studies utilizing decaffeinated coffee managed to reduce inflammatory markers [18,19]. Despite the worldwide consumption of coffee and evidence of its anti-inflammatory properties [12,20], little