The present paper surveys the latest knowledge about coffee grains (Coffea arabica) as an important part of our everyday life. It lists the botanical classification of its principal species, such as Coffea arabica, Coffea robusta , and Coffea liberica, the most important improved cultivars of production species in the world. The review paper also discusses the economic aspect, lists the most important regions of production, the optimal and farming technological conditions. It points o ut the occurrence of the individual constituents which have been hitherto isolated, characterized, and chemically defined with some of their physiological effects on the human organism, e.g., the substances of the diterpene type such as kafestol and kahweol and their structure.

        Key words: Coffea arabica – C. robusta – C. liberica – kafestol – kahweol – caffein –