How Is Coffee Decaffeinated?
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Posted On :
Mar-28-2011
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Article Word Count :
507
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Here we discuss about the diverse processes by which caffeine can be removed from coffee, making it a healthier drink. The general process of decaffeinating begins with roasting the green beans of coffee, followed by rinsing with a solvent that removes caffeine from the beans keeping other ingredients intact within the beans.
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Do you love coffee but hate caffeine and looking for a healthier alternative? Then the solution to your quest is Decaffeinated Coffee, which is not completely free from caffeine but definitely less by about 1/40th amount of usual coffee.
What is Decaffeinating?
Decaffeinating is a process of eliminating caffeine from cocoa, coffee beans, tealeaves and other products, which contains caffeine. Coffee Arabica usually contains half of caffeine content than Coffee Robusta. The general process of decaffeinating begins with roasting the green beans of coffee, followed by rinsing with a solvent that removes caffeine from the beans keeping other ingredients intact within the beans. This is done 8 to12 times repeatedly till it reaches the standard 97% caffeine free beans of US or the 99% of UK.
Different Processes of Decaffeinating Coffee
The other processes are:
1. Roselius process - Ludwig Roselius and Karl Wimmer invented the first commercially successful decaffeination process in 1903, which involved baking the coffee beans with brine or salt water only to be followed by rinsing it in benzene to get rid of the caffeine. This process is no longer followed, as benzene is not good for health.
2. Swiss Water Process - Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Company developed this process in 1930, according to which the green coffee beans are washed in hot water, which releases the caffeine. When the entire caffeine has been drained out, the beans are removed. After this, the water is passed through carbon filter, which traps the caffeine, releasing the pure coffee solids.
3. Direct method - Dichloromethane or Ethyl Acetate is used to rinse the beans for 10 continuous hours, which are first roasted for 30 minutes. After the solvent is removed, the beans are steamed again for 10 hrs to get rid of the remaining solvent.
4. Indirect method - This is similar to the previous process with few changes. Initially the beans are soaked for quite a few hours preparing a strong pan of coffee, where the beans are removed and Ethyl Acetate or Dichloromethane is added to drain out the caffeine. This water is again recycled through the 2-step process of Direct Method with new beans. After many cycles, equilibrium is reached where the beans and the water have similar components apart from caffeine.
5. CO2 process - In this process, pre - steamed beans are washed in a solution of liquid Carbon Dioxide at 73 - 300 atmospheric pressure. This pressurized Carbon Dioxide is either passed through charcoal or water filters and then the pressure is minimized to let the CO2 evaporate removing the caffeine.
6. Triglyceride process - This process takes the hot water soaked beans to dip in coffee oils, available from used coffee grounds. The triglycerides in the oils, after many hours, draw away the caffeine keeping the flavor intact within the beans.
Consumption of decaf coffee is better for health. The intake of 5-10 cups of Decaffeinated Coffee daily is equal to drinking 2 cups of regular coffee.
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Article Source :
http://www.articleseen.com/Article_How Is Coffee Decaffeinated?_57447.aspx
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Author Resource :
If you love coffee like me and want to know interesting things about it then visit the Coffee Lovers Guide website.
Lots of videos, articles, tips, advice and unique coffee accessories are listed here. It is a paradise for Coffee Lovers.
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Keywords :
coffee, decaffeinated coffee, processes of decaffeinating,
Category :
Food and Beverage
:
Coffee
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