Decaffeinated Coffee Process

Caffeine is a form of drug, that is found in the leaves and seeds of most plants. It is bitter in taste and can be found in many beverages like coffee and soft drinks. It is also one of the ingredients of chocolates and certain medications. It is referred as a drug, because, it stimulates the central nervous system of our body.

The effect of caffeine can be seen after 15 minutes of consumption and it takes almost 6 hours to eliminate half the amount of caffeine consumed. Caffeine, when consumed in excessive amount, can pose certain health problems, which include, restlessness, anxiety, irritability, headaches, increased heart beats, etc.

Studies say, that the effect of caffeine is different on every person. A person may be too sensitive to the effects of caffeine, while other person may develop less sensitivity.

Caffeine is a diuretic, which means, you urinate quite frequently. Moreover, it also makes the body to lose calcium, which increases the risk of bone problems like osteoporosis.

It is recommended that one should consume caffeine in a moderate amount, to avoid any health risks. Caffeine is quite addictive and one may undergo the caffeine withdrawal symptoms, while avoiding the caffeine intake.

With increased awareness about the side effects of caffeine, people are looking forward for options that will help them to enjoy the taste of a cup of coffee, without worrying about its caffeine content. Decaffeinated coffee, as the name suggests, is the coffee with reduced caffeine content. It contains about 0.1% of caffeine in it.

The process usually includes three basic steps, which are- dissolving the caffeine content from the coffee beans, by soaking them in water, then absorbing this caffeine with the help of a certain solvent, and soaking the beans back in the decaffeinated water.

All these processes try to decaffeinate the coffee, by maintaining good quality of the coffee taste. Given ahead are some of the popular methods of decaffeinating caffeine from coffee beans.

The technical name for this process is supercritical fluid extraction and is one of the most promising methods of decaffeinating. The initial step of this process involves steaming the coffee beans. Then these beans are soaked in carbon dioxide at a pressure of 73 to 300 atmospheric pressure. Carbon dioxide at this pressure acts both as gas and liquid.

The molecules of carbon attract the caffeine molecules, which are smaller as compared to the molecules that give flavor to the coffee. The soaking of the steamed coffee beans continues for about 10 hours and then the carbon dioxide is filtered to remove its caffeine content. This carbon dioxide is used again to decaffeinate more coffee beans.

This is a very simple and natural process of decaffeinating coffee and was developed by the Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Company. This process guarantees 99.9 % removal of caffeine from the coffee beans. Initially, the coffee beans are soaked in hot water. This step removes all the caffeine and flavor content of the coffee, by dissolving it into the hot water.

Once the caffeine is removed from the beans, the beans are removed from the water and the concentrated water is carbon filtered to remove the caffeine dissolved in it. The concentrated water left is the flavored content of the coffee beans. Then the green decaffeinated beans are soaked in this solution to absorb the flavor molecules. This is a 100% chemical-free process.

The direct process of decaffeinating coffee involves the use of certain chemical solvents, to absorb the caffeine present in the coffee beans. Methylene chloride and ethyl acetate are two types of chemical solvents, that can be used for this process.

The coffee beans are initially steamed for 30 minutes, before the actual process starts. After steaming, these beans are soaked in any of these solvents for about 10 hours.

Then the caffeine content solvent and the coffee beans are separated and the steps are repeated, until maximum percentage of caffeine is removed from the coffee beans.

When ethyl acetate is used as a solvent, the process is called naturally decaffeinated coffee process, since, ethyl acetate is found naturally in certain fruits. But the ethyl acetate used as solvent for the process is artificially produced.

Indirect method also uses methylene chloride or ethyl acetate for decaffeination of the coffee beans. The process is called indirect decaffeinated coffee process, since, the coffee beans do not come in direct contact with the chemical solvent.

Initially, the coffee beans are soaked in hot water for many hours. This makes the coffee beans lose flavor and caffeine molecules into the water. Then the coffee beans are separated from the water and this water is transferred to another container.

The concentrated water is then mixed with solvents like methylene chloride or ethyl acetate. The caffeine molecules get combined with the solvent molecules. Then the water is heated at a temperature, where the solvent evaporates along with dissolved caffeine in it.

Thus, the water left contains flavor molecules of the coffee beans, and is free of solvent and caffeine. Coffee beans are then again added to this water to absorb the flavor.