decaffeination
Decaffeination is the extraction of caffeine from the grain of coffee beans, mate, cocoa, tea leaves or any other product containing caffeine. It is an important industrial process which can be carried out according to three processes: extraction by an organic solvent; ▪ supercritical fluid extraction; ▪ extraction with water. The first method, which has been used for years, tends to be replaced by the latter for reasons of health, environmental impact, cost and flavor. The latter is the least effective and can distort the taste. These three processes are described below in the case of decaffeination of coffee ...