An extract from whole Coffea arabica coffee cherry containing 200 mg caffeine and 15 mg polyphenols is ergogenic, improving time trial performance by 4.6%, but was not shown to enhance muscle glycogen resynthesis following post-exercise consumption of 1 g·kg bm-1 carbohydrate.
Coffee cherry extract supplementation improved 15-minute time trial performance by 4.6% compared to placebo.
Perceived exertion was lower during steady-state exercise with coffee cherry extract compared to placebo.
Plasma caffeine and chlorogenic acid concentrations were elevated in the coffee cherry extract condition throughout exercise and recovery.
Coffee cherry extract did not enhance muscle glycogen resynthesis during recovery when carbohydrate was co-ingested.
The second time trial (TT2), performed the following morning after overnight recovery, was included in the study design but performance differences are not reported in the abstract.
The study used a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over design with twelve trained cyclists.
This research suggests that taking a supplement made from whole coffee cherry (the fruit surrounding coffee beans) before exercise can meaningfully improve cycling performance. Trained cyclists who took the supplement — which contained 200 mg of caffeine and a small amount of polyphenols (plant-based antioxidants) — performed about 4.6% better in a 15-minute maximum-effort cycling test compared to when they took a placebo. They also reported feeling like the exercise was less hard during the warm-up period before the time trial. Blood tests confirmed that both caffeine and chlorogenic acid (a polyphenol from coffee) were absorbed and circulating in the body during exercise and recovery. However, the supplement did not appear to speed up the replenishment of glycogen — the carbohydrate fuel stored in muscles — during recovery after exercise. Both the supplement and placebo groups refueled their muscles at similar rates over the 4 hours and 24 hours following exercise, even though they consumed carbohydrates alongside the supplement. Some previous research had suggested that caffeine might help muscles store glycogen more quickly after exercise, but this study, using a relatively low dose (200 mg caffeine) combined with polyphenols from coffee cherry, did not find that benefit. This research suggests that whole coffee cherry extract can act as an ergogenic aid — a performance enhancer — likely through caffeine's well-known effects on the brain and perception of effort, rather than by changing how the body burns fuel during exercise. The finding that glycogen resynthesis was not enhanced is practically relevant for athletes trying to recover quickly between training sessions or competitions, indicating that this particular supplement form and dose may not offer an advantage over carbohydrate alone for recovery purposes.
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Upload Your LabsPavis G, Kingma R, Nemzer B, Abshiru N, Wall B, Stephens F. (2026). An extract from whole Coffea arabica coffee cherry improves time trial performance, but not muscle glycogen resynthesis, in trained cyclists.. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1080/15502783.2026.2682323