Archive for June 16th, 2009

A short history of coffee

coffee history

Is it possible to start a book about coffee without tracing some of the history (and legend) of this beverage, even though many people know it? The word ‘coffee’ is a story in itself. Does it derive from Kaffa where the plant grew wild, or from kawah (kahweh) which means strength and is also a poetic name for wine? Whatever its origins, it became coffee. It all began, it is said, because of some excited goats which stayed awake all night, prompting a shepherd somewhere in Yemen to ask advice of the priests in the vicinity. The priests soon observed that the animals were eating red berries from a bush, so they tried these berries themselves and found that they could attend their prayers without the problem of falling asleep. It appears, therefore, that it is not because of a compound responsible for the taste that the whole story started. In fact, it was in Ethiopia (or was it Abyssinia?) that coffee was first grown and a beverage made from it. It was exported to the other side of the Red Sea in Aden in the Fifteenth century. As its property of preventing drowsiness was taken advantage of as a devotional antisoporific, there was fierce opposition from the strictly orthodox Muslims. The supposed intoxicant beverage was prohibited by the Koran.

goats in Yemen eating red berries later to be known as coffee beans

Notwithstanding the threat of divine penalties, the use of the beverage spread rapidly among the Arabians. A hundred years later, in the middle of the sixteenth century, the first coffee houses were established in Constantinople, where the new habit also provoked the ire of the religious orders. As a result of complaints to the Sultan, heavy taxes were imposed on the coffee houses but this did not prevent them from flourishing. After another century, a coffee house opened in London. Here also it encountered hostility, but more for political reasons as coffee houses were thought to be seditious meeting places. After an attempt to suppress them, the most effective way of reducing coffee consumption here too, was to introduce heavy taxes. However, this had no obvious effect. At around the same period coffee was introduced into France where wine merchants feared that the new beverage would compete with wine. Anyway after the tribulations at the beginning, coffee drinking became an established custom in Europe. For two centuries the only source of coffee was Yemen (Arabia).

Social impact of coffee

iced coffee

Economy always being an important factor, it has to be noted that in Yemen, coffee at first replaced (although never completely) a beverage made with ‘qat’ (Caltha edlllis), by bringing in more money. However, cultivation, collection and treatment of coffee are time-consuming. Nowadays coffee is hardly cultivated at all in this part of the world and has been replaced by ‘qat’ which is consumed (leaves arcchewed) on a large scale for a purpose similar to that of coffee, becoming again economically important for the growers if not for the country. For all that, the history of coffee has not come to an end. People liked the social atmosphere of coffee drinking but did not want the possible effect of caffeine, hence the decaffeination process, or of some acids, hence the steam-treatment. For others, making coffee from the roasted beans was too much trouble, hence the preparation of soluble coffees, decaffeinated or not. All these treatments altcr the content, and therefore the taste of the beverage. There is now a trend to new products (iced coffee, iced cappuccino for example). There are also ‘gourmet’ people who buy specialty roasted coffee and increase the side-market for coffee-pots or espresso makers by brewing coffee according to their taste.

SOURCE : Coffee Flavor Chemistry, Ivon Flament

GM Products

Genetically Modified (GM) products are not inherently hazardous. We have been using GM to make pharmaceuticals for a quarter century, with no documented cases of harm attributable to the genetic-modification process. Three hundred million North American consumers have been eating several dozen GM foods grown on over 100 million acres since 1994. Again, there are no documented cases of harm attributable to the process by which the GM crops were bred. In early 2000, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) invited 400 world experts, including academic researchers and representatives of government and industry as well as environmental activist groups to a conference on the safety of GM foods. Groups adamantly opposed to GM foods were given the chance to present evidence to support their assertions. They were unable to cite any cases of harm from GM foods.

SOURCE : Biotechnology & Food for Canadians

biotechnology

Biotechnology is simply using living systems to give society more or better foods, drugs and other products. In this sense, we have been applying biotechnology since the dawn of civilization. In recent times, our understanding of science, especially genetics, has advanced to the point where we can optimize specific genes and traits to provide even greater benefits while reducing or eliminating undesirable features. Biotechnology, based on recombinant DNA (rDNA), is often called Gene Splicing, Genetic Engineering (GE) or Genetic Modification (GM), giving rise to a genetically modified organism (GMO).*

The precision attained by such molecular plant breeding can provide, for example, greatly increased crop production and nutritional enhancements at little or no additional cost. Fruits and vegetables can be picked and delivered at the height of flavor and ripeness thanks to carefully tailored improvements that reduce softening and bruising. For health-conscious consumers, cooking oils from GM corn, soy or canola will provide lower saturated fat content. Any interest in French fries with fewer calories? GM potatoes with enhanced starch content absorb less fat during frying. Leaner meats will be available from cattle and pigs improved both directly and through improved feeds. Sensitive new testing kits can detect tiny amounts of potentially harmful toxic contaminants in foods. New plant varieties that are biologically protected against insects and diseases are now on the market, just in time to help farmers hard pressed to maintain efficient production with fewer chemical control agents. As our knowledge of molecular genetics increases, our ability to improve our foods and farming will increasingly benefit consumers at home and around the world. Among the benefits to consumers is more nutritious food, more diverse foods, less expensive food and, in regions of most crucial need, more abundant food.

* While the term “gene splicing” is more technically correct, most consumers are familiar with the terms “genetic modification” or “GM” to signify changing genomes or organisms by inserting or deleting genes.

SOURCE : Biotechnology & Food for Canadians

Color prism

Chromotherapy is a method of treatment of diseases by colour. It is best used as a supportive therapy along with other natural methods of preserving health such as correct diet, adequate rest and relaxation, exercise, yogic asanas and so on.According to practitioners of chromotherapy, the cause of any disease can be traced to the lack of a particular colour in the human system. Colour therapy is a technique of restoring imbalance by means of applying coloured light to the body. It was a popular method of cure even in ancient times. Some 2,500 years ago, Pythagoras applied colour light therapeutically and ‘colour halls’ were used for healing in ancient Egypt, China and India.

The pioneer of modern colour therapy was Niels Finsen of Denmark. Following the discovery, in 1877, of the bactericidal action of solar ultra-violet energy,Finsen studied the possibility of assisting the healing of wounds with visible light. He subse- quently used red light to inhibit the formation of smallpox scars and, in 1896, founded a Light Institute ( now the Finsen Institute of Copenhagen) for the phototreatment of tuberculosis. In 1932, Gerrard and Hessay, two Californian psychologists, scientifically established that blue light had a calming effect and red a stimulating power on human beings. Blue and red colours are considered at the two extremes with yellow representing the midpoint. These are also the three principal colours in a rainbow. A patient is first subjected to an examination to ascertain which colour he lacks. The deficiency is determined by observing the colour of the eyeballs, nails, urine and excrement. In cases of the lack of red the eyes and nails will be bluish, and the urine and excrement white or bluish. If there is a deficiency of the blue colour, the eyes and nails will be reddish and urine and excrement yellowish or red.

Every substance on earth contains colour. Even the rays cast on earth by celestial bodies contain colour in the form of white light. The rays of the sun contain seven different colours -violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red. These are natural colours which are highly beneficial to the maintenance of health and for healing diseases.
According to Dr. Babbit, a well-known authority on chromotherapy, “sunlight is the principaln curative agent in nature’s laboratory and where light cannot enter, disease does. Chlorosis, anaemia, leukaemia, emaciation, muscular debility, degeneration of heart and liver, dropsical effusion, softening of bones,nervous excitability, physical deformity, stunted growth and consumption are the result of excluding oneself from the beneficial effects of sunlight. ” Sunlight plays an important role in the recovery from chronic diseases. Judicious use of sunlight can be part of the curing process in almost every affliction. The rays of the sun improve digestion and nutrition, quicken blood and lymph circulation and increase the elimination of impurities through the skin.

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