Flour from Coffee Fruit Pulp -- Superfood?

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Created on 05, February, 2016

A new flour made from coffee fruit pulp is being promoted for its fiber, protein, antioxidants, etc.

The website states this flour contains 3x more iron per gram than fresh spinach, 38% more antioxidants per gram than a fresh pomegranate, 3x more protein per gram than fresh kale, etc.

This sounds impressive, but there is a catch... or at least three. First of all, they are comparing a dried/processed product to fresh foods that contain mostly water. Water always dilutes nutrients. If those other foods were freeze dried, they would contain way more nutrients “per gram” as well (although using kale as a comparison for protein is specious – kale, like all leafy greens, is not a good source of protein, but is valuable for other nutrients). Second, the very high fiber content of this flour more or less assures that any riches of iron (and many other nutrients) will not be very bioavailable (i.e., will mostly pass through your system without being absorbed). Third, the Nutrition Facts for the product is improper – the serving size is only 1 tablespoon (it should be ¼ cup if it is a flour), the rounding is incorrect (too many decimal places, which implies a false degree of precision) and the antioxidants shown (vitamins A and C) are not even a “good source,” so no antioxidant claims can be made. While the product may have other attributes (environmental, etc.), its nutrition content is being promoted and displayed misleadingly, to say the least.