<p><em>Disclaimer: Lately, I was checking some unanswered questions. This one stands for a while. So, I decided to use the advantages of sitting in an academic office and sought the academic databases I can think of. Some of them are only accessible by abstract. However, I will try to copy the essence of them here without disturbing copyright rules of the publishers.</em></p>

<p>First things first, I tried to understand the effect of going stale to the amount of antioxidants in coffee. It seems not.</p>

<p>My first reference is <em>"Antioxidant capacity, phenolic acids and caffeine contents of some commercial coffees available on the Romanian market."</em> by Trandafir I., Nour V, and Ionica M.E. which you can read its abstract <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24167962" rel="nofollow">here</a>. According to this article, total amount of antioxidants <strong>in a regular coffee sold in the market</strong> is changing in between <strong>19.8 to 41.9 mg per gram</strong> coffee.</p>

<p>My second reference is <em>"Recovery of Natural Antioxidants from Spent Coffee Grounds"</em> by Alessia Panusa, Antonio Zuorro, Roberto Lavecchia, Giancarlo Marrosu, and Rita Petrucci which you can read its abstract <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf4005719" rel="nofollow">here</a>. According to this article, total amount of antioxidants <strong>in the remains of the spent espresso waste</strong> is changing in between <strong>17.07 to 35.52 mg per gram</strong> coffee.</p>

<p>I conclude that, even after brewing (chemically speaking; extraction or leaching) the antioxidant amount is not changing <em>much</em>.</p>

<p>Then, I tried to understand what changes the antioxidant level in coffee, if there exist something. Yes, there is one; here comes the third reference by Ayelign and Sabally, <em>"Determination of Chlorogenic Acids (CGA) in Coffee Beans using HPLC"</em> which you can download a copy of it from <a href="http://www.usa-journals.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Ayelign_Vol12.pdf" rel="nofollow">here</a>. In this study, it is shown that the level of CGAs (an antioxidant) is <strong>dropped from 46.144 mg to 0.981 mg per gram coffee, more the coffee is roasted</strong>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-31T08:36:26.660Z
2016-08-31T08:36:26.660Z
MTSan
<p>I recently read an article on <a href="http://www.handground.com/grind/the-chemistry-of-grinding-coffee-beans">chemistry of grinding coffee beans</a> and it suggests stale coffee might be less healthy than freshly-roasted coffee, in terms of micronutrient and antioxidant loss over time after roasting. </p>

<p>The argument makes sense but I don't think there's been research specifically on the loss of antioxidants as coffee goes bad. I'm curious what you think... maybe we can use the "Wisdom of Crowds" to find the right answer. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-16T19:53:10.887Z
I wouldn't think so. If it was, coffee purveyors would use it as an excuse to throw it out and buy fresh coffee more frequently. I worked as a coffee plant manager. There was no mention of the issue although it's been decades since I held the job.
Curt
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-16T20:00:12.807Z
I really liked the article you linked... neat content on chemistry of roasting and the process in general. Hooray for science! Hope you don't mind my small edit for context. Welcome to [coffee.se].
hoc_age
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-17T00:13:35.963Z
Thanks @hoc_age! I appreciate the edit. I'd love to see more research on the subject.
Ben Putano
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-17T19:57:45.850Z
@Curt I am not sure I agree with the logic.  If it was going to hurt their bottom line, I am fairly certain that businesses would gloss over the less healthy attribute.  Similar to how large chains currently gloss over the prime range of freshness for roasted coffee.
Suspended User
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-12-18T04:02:33.600Z
@Chris_in_AK, you may well be right. It's probably not goog to say bad things about your product
Curt
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-16T03:17:38.450Z
Tasting bad and ruining my mood are not health effects, so no.
Warren  P
<health><ground-coffee><chemistry>
Is stale coffee less healthy for you than fresh coffee?
Ben Putano
# Is stale coffee less healthy for you than fresh coffee?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-12-16)

I recently read an article on [chemistry of grinding coffee beans](http://www.handground.com/grind/the-chemistry-of-grinding-coffee-beans) and it suggests stale coffee might be less healthy than freshly-roasted coffee, in terms of micronutrient and antioxidant loss over time after roasting.

The argument makes sense but I don't think there's been research specifically on the loss of antioxidants as coffee goes bad. I'm curious what you think... maybe we can use the "Wisdom of Crowds" to find the right answer.

**Tags:** health, ground-coffee, chemistry

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I wouldn't think so. If it was, coffee purveyors would use it as an excuse to throw it out and buy fresh coffee more frequently. I worked as a coffee plant manager. There was no mention of the issue although it's been decades since I held the job.  
> **username_2**: I really liked the article you linked... neat content on chemistry of roasting and the process in general. Hooray for science! Hope you don't mind my small edit for context. Welcome to [coffee.se].  
> **username_0**: Thanks @username_2! I appreciate the edit. I'd love to see more research on the subject.  
> **username_3**: @username_1 I am not sure I agree with the logic.  If it was going to hurt their bottom line, I am fairly certain that businesses would gloss over the less healthy attribute.  Similar to how large chains currently gloss over the prime range of freshness for roasted coffee.  
> **username_1**: @Chris_in_AK, you may well be right. It's probably not goog to say bad things about your product  
> **username_4**: Tasting bad and ruining my mood are not health effects, so no.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2016-08-31. Score: 2

*Disclaimer: Lately, I was checking some unanswered questions. This one stands for a while. So, I decided to use the advantages of sitting in an academic office and sought the academic databases I can think of. Some of them are only accessible by abstract. However, I will try to copy the essence of them here without disturbing copyright rules of the publishers.*

First things first, I tried to understand the effect of going stale to the amount of antioxidants in coffee. It seems not.

My first reference is *"Antioxidant capacity, phenolic acids and caffeine contents of some commercial coffees available on the Romanian market."* by Trandafir I., Nour V, and Ionica M.E. which you can read its abstract [here](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24167962). According to this article, total amount of antioxidants **in a regular coffee sold in the market** is changing in between **19.8 to 41.9 mg per gram** coffee.

My second reference is *"Recovery of Natural Antioxidants from Spent Coffee Grounds"* by Alessia Panusa, Antonio Zuorro, Roberto Lavecchia, Giancarlo Marrosu, and Rita Petrucci which you can read its abstract [here](http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jf4005719). According to this article, total amount of antioxidants **in the remains of the spent espresso waste** is changing in between **17.07 to 35.52 mg per gram** coffee.

I conclude that, even after brewing (chemically speaking; extraction or leaching) the antioxidant amount is not changing *much*.

Then, I tried to understand what changes the antioxidant level in coffee, if there exist something. Yes, there is one; here comes the third reference by Ayelign and Sabally, *"Determination of Chlorogenic Acids (CGA) in Coffee Beans using HPLC"* which you can download a copy of it from [here](http://www.usa-journals.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Ayelign_Vol12.pdf). In this study, it is shown that the level of CGAs (an antioxidant) is **dropped from 46.144 mg to 0.981 mg per gram coffee, more the coffee is roasted**.


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