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The removal of caffeine from coffee is usually done by exposing the raw coffee bean
to a solvent at temperatures ranging from 40 to 70 degrees Celsius. In order to almost completely extract the caffeine
from the beans, they must be sufficiently swelled with steam. This loosens the cell structure so that the caffeine
may more easily diffuse out of the bean. The underlying principles of various methods for decaffeinating coffee
are generally the same. They differ from one another in the type of solvent used, the method of removing the caffeine
from the solvent and the way the solvent is regenerated and recycled.
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