Coffee - How it is Decaffeinated

There are two types of coffee; with caffeine and decaffeinated. Both these varieties originate from the same beans but the difference is that the latter has been through the process of removing the caffeine. Having said that, the term decaffeinated is somewhat misleading because there is still 3% caffeine in the coffee beans after the process is complete.

Decaffeinated coffee can be produced in a number of ways, one of which is to use a solvent; either methylene or ethyl acetate. The latter is considered a "natural" method as it occurs naturally in many fruits. With the solvent method, there are two possible processes:

1. Soak the coffee beans in water and add the solvent. The caffeine molecules then bond with the molecules of the solvent and are removed. This is known as the direct method

2. The indirect method consists of soaking the coffee beans in water only, wherein the caffeine, which is water soluble, will be removed. However, other flavours and oils are also removed in this way, so the resulting solution is treated with the solvent then the coffee beans reintroduced so that the flavours can once again be absorbed into the beans.

The water used in the soaking process should be pure, not filtered as the latter removes the natural flavour of the coffee beans.

Another method of decaffeination is the use of carbon dioxide. The coffee beans are cooked at high pressure with the gas which at these high pressures and temperatures becomes a solvent. As with the solvent method, the CO2 molecules attract the caffeine molecules but because the flavour molecules are of graeter size, they remain undamaged and thus the flavour of the coffee beans is preserved.

The Swiss Water Process, which unsurprisingly originated in Switzerland uses no chemicals but involves soaking the coffee beans in hot coffee flavoured water, thus preserving the flavour. Additionally, coffee can be decaffeinated purely by soakin in hot water, which disolves the caffeine, then filtering the liquid through a charcoal or carbon filter and returning the resulting liquid to the beans for the reabsorption of the oils and flavour.

The method of decaffeination is often printed on the product label, should you be interested enough to check!

Notwithstanding the fact that your coffee of choice may be decaffeinated, if you have a heart complaint or other condition and your doctor has told you to stop drinking coffee, you need to check whether decaffeinated coffee is sufficiently caffeine free to allow you to drink it.




comments: 0
viewed: 233

only search at xaluan.com



• Homepage
• Site map
• AllPostersStore
• Amazon
• Article Index
• Google Search
• Link Partners
• News
• Recommend Us
• Topics
• Your Account




put your ads here