Coffee is the second most valuable product exported from developing countries.
The measurement of some compounds inherent in coffee products is standardized in the DIN ISO methods:
• Caffeine with approximately 80–120 mg per cup. Decaffeinated coffee is produced in large amounts from green coffee beans. Due to the European Commission decaffeinated coffee must contain less than 0.1 % caffeine.
• Chlorogenic acid, naturally occurring in green coffee beans with about 3.5 g per 100 g. It is the ingredient considered to cause problems for coffee drinkers with a sensitive stomach. To adjust the content of chlorogenic acid in coffee, different roasting procedures are applied.
• Cafestol, a diterpene, naturally occurring in green coffee beans up to 0.06%. Biologically, cafestol has an increasing effect on the serum cholesterol level. On the other hand, there are studies, showing e.g. anti-carcinogenic effects.
• Ochratoxin A, a mycotoxin produced by Apergillus species and one of the major mycotoxins occurring in coffee. Due to European regulations it must not exceed 3.5 µg/kg. Ochratoxin A can cause acute toxicity in kidneys and cancer.

This work demonstrates the determination of those naturally occurring compounds and contaminants in coffee products according to DIN ISO methods. The performance of the analysis will be shown for linearity, retention time, and area precision as well as accuracy. Possible improvements of the analysis will be shown and discussed by method transfer from a standard 4.6 mm i.d. column to a 3.0 mm i.d. core-shell 2.7 µm colum including the effect of solvent saving and time efficiency gain.