Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, The Chemist Who Discovered Coffee
For many people, caffeine is already a part of their day to day. We not only find it in the first sip of coffee in the morning, but also in teas, soft drinks and in other foods and beverages that, ipso facto, increase our energy and even help us stay awake. Did you know that it was a chemist who discovered caffeine? We are talking about Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge. Who Discovered Coffee coffee history facts history of coffee timeline
Born in a small town next to Hamburg (Germany) in 1795, Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge was an analytical chemist who, despite humble origins, achieved some renown in the 19th century. Runge carried out experiments from a young age, in fact he only came to identify the mydriatic effects of belladonna extract. coffee history facts
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When he was barely 26 years old, he established a great friendship and professional admiration with the German scientist and poet Goethe, who suggested that he analyze a food as ancient as it is unknown, especially in terms of research and analysis: coffee. It didn’t take long for Runge to make a discovery that would mark his resume and the world beverage market for the rest of time: caffeine.
Runge decided not to stay with the fame he had acquired – something that incidentally increased over time when he invented drinks that had one of their main supporters in caffeine – and he went to Berlin to study his doctorate. Later, after traveling three years through Europe, he settled in his native Germany where he would teach at the University of Breslau until in 1831 he opened his own chemical products company.
However, the findings of this chemist not only limited to the discovery of caffeine , it also marked a new point in other works such as the chemistry of purine, aniline blue dye, atropine, phenol, coal tar products. , paper chromatography, pyrrole and thymol. What have made Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge one of the most important German chemists of the 19th century. history of coffee timeline
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The discovery of caffeine Who Discovered Coffee
Although Runge isolated a relatively pure caffeine for the first time, the structure of caffeine was not elucidated towards the end of the 19th century by Hermann Emil Fischer, who was the one who achieved its total synthesis, it being this and not Runge who was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry. in 1902.
Of course, there is evidence that humans already consumed “caffeine” since the Stone Age. The most primitive humans chewed bark and leaves of certain plants causing an effect capable of relieving fatigue, stimulating alertness and elevating mood, although of course this was not yet considered caffeine as we know it today.
