Decaffeination

decaffeination, process by which caffeine is removed from coffee beans and tea leaves. Coffee and teas made from Camellia sinensis, such as black and green teas, naturally contain caffeine, which is a chemical used by the plants to deter herbivores. A number of coffee and tea drinkers relish the taste of their beverage of choice but cannot tolerate the jolt from caffeine. The main methods of coffee decaffeination are based on chemical solvents, carbon filtering, carbon dioxide extraction, or triglycerides. In all cases, to make “decaf,” the caffeine is removed in the green bean stage, before the coffee is roasted. Tea typically is decaffeinated by using chemical solvents or carbon dioxide extraction. Regardless of the method of decaffeination, some adulteration of the coffee beans or tea leaves occurs along the way, and in no case is 100 percent of the caffeine removed. In the United States the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires that at least 97 percent of the caffeine be removed for a tea or coffee to be sold as “decaffeinated.” Herbal and fruit teas labeled “caffeine-free” are not decaffeinated but rather are made of plants that do not contain caffeine.

caffeine molecule

The process of decaffeination in the early 20th century was initially solvent-based—using benzene, which is now recognized as a carcinogen. Modern solvent-based decaffeination is done mostly with ethyl acetate or, to a lesser extent, methylene chloride. In the direct method, the coffee beans or tea leaves are steamed and then rinsed by the chemical agent. In the indirect method, the chemical agent never touches the beans or leaves but rather treats the water-based coffee or tea solution in which the beans or leaves are first soaked. After the caffeine-laden solvent is removed from the solution, the solution is reapplied to the beans or leaves to restore some of the flavours and oils that were initially removed. Tea makers commonly decaffeinate bagged tea with ethyl acetate, and either of the two solvents is used by some high-volume coffee companies to decaffeinate their products, though other decaffeination processes have gained in popularity. The process is regulated to ensure that all but trace amounts of the chemicals are removed before the coffee is roasted or the tea is packaged. Some countries do not allow the importation of tea or coffee that has been decaffeinated with methylene chloride, as it is considered a possible carcinogen; the FDA has deemed its use to be safe for decaffeination.

Increasingly, decaffeination methods have relied on more-natural means for extracting caffeine. One such process used for both tea and coffee is extraction by supercritical carbon dioxide, which can act (under sufficiently high temperature and pressure) like both a gas and a liquid. In that case, the supercritical carbon dioxide reaches into the crevices of coffee beans and tea leaves like a gas but dissolves caffeine like a liquid. After the beans or leaves have been soaked in water (a process that expands cell structures and makes it easier to extract the caffeine molecules), they are exposed to supercritical carbon dioxide for several hours. The caffeinated carbon dioxide liquefies and evaporates, and the beans or leaves are then processed. Because that method allows the carbohydrates and proteins in the coffee or tea to remain intact, there is less change in taste as a result of decaffeination. The downside of the use of supercritical carbon dioxide is its cost.

Another method, the Swiss water process (invented in Switzerland), is based solely on water soaking and carbon filtering and is used only for the decaffeination of coffee. A batch of coffee beans is first immersed in hot water, which releases the beans’ flavour components as well as their caffeine. That initial batch of beans is then discarded, and the water passes through a carbon filter that traps only the caffeine molecules. The resulting flavour-rich water, called “green coffee extract,” is then used to wash and filter the next batch of beans. Because the green coffee extract is already full of flavour components, it releases only caffeine from the new beans, which is then filtered out. That step is repeated with the same batch of beans until as much caffeine as possible has been removed. Then the beans are taken out and dried. The Swiss water process thus removes caffeine from the beans without recourse to chemical agents and without significant loss of flavour components. This process is considered to be too rigorous for delicate tea leaves, so it is not used in the tea industry.

Finally, in the triglyceride process, coffee beans are soaked in a hot water-based coffee solution to draw the caffeine to the surface of the beans. They are then moved to a different container and immersed in coffee oils obtained from spent coffee grounds. Heating the oils causes their triglycerides to remove the caffeine from the beans but supposedly not the flavour. The beans are then separated from the oils and dried. Once the caffeine has been removed from the oils, they are reused to decaffeinate additional batches of beans.