L.Rubiaceae, Common, Arabian
Eaten raw by Middle Eastern natives, coffee beans, called or likened to cherries, were eaten for a stimulant for many centuries.
caffeine,volatile oils, colouring matter,tannin, traces of theobromine and its isomer,theophylline,woody fibre, ash, citric acid, glucosids forming grape sugar.
Uses:
Stimulant, diuretic,beverage, flavouring, cuisine, confectionery,liqueur,spasmodic asthmatic seizures, for opium narcosis,renal torpor, cardiac insufficiency,unpleasant sense of fullness in the head and drowsiness after eating,migraine, with cerebral hyperemia; constipation, from gastric atony, when not due to excessive use of coffee An infusion of roasted coffee is an agreeable stimulant, anti-soporific, and anti-emetic .
Coffee slightly accelerates the circulation; taken too freely, it impairs the nervous and digestive systems. The nervous symptoms are usually irritability, dejected spirits, weakness, trembling, watchfulness, mental confusion, headache, dizziness, and ringing noises in the ears; the gastric effects are flatulence, acidity, pyrosis, and bitter and sourish eructations, as well as disorders of the bowels.
See Reference Linked below for a very comprehensive page on coffee.
http://www.ibiblio.org/herbmed/eclectic/kings/caffea.html