Effect of Decaffeination Time on The Chemical Profile of Green Bean Arabica Coffee (Coffea arabica L.)
Rahmawati (a), Februadi Bastian (a*), Muhammad Asfar (a), Amran Laga (a), Abu Bakar Tawali (a), Aprilia Nur Fitrianti (b)

a) Department of Agricultural Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Hasanuddin University, Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan KM 10, Makassar 90245, Indonesia.
b) Graduate School of Environmental and Life Science, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan.
*) februadi[at]unhas.ac.id

Abstract

Coffee is one of the plantation commodities that has various secondary metabolites such as caffeine, chlorogenic acid, polyphenols and others. Caffeine in coffee can help improve psychomotor work and build the nervous system. However, excessive caffeine consumption may cause health problems such as insomnia, feelings of nervousness, and can even increase blood pressure. Therefore, decaffeination is needed to reduce caffeine levels within the coffee beans produced. One methods of decaffeination that is safe to use is the swiss water process method, because this method only uses water as the solvent and does not use harmful chemicals. The aim of this study was to obtain the best decaffeination process time using the Swiss Water Process method and to determine the effect of decaffeination time on caffeine content, chlorogenic acid content, total phenolic, total flavonoid, pH, total acid and total dissolved solids of decaf coffee. The treatments in this study were decaffeination for 18 hours, 24 hours and 30 hours. The results obtained based on the duration of decaffeination treatment obtained the best results in decaffeination for 24 hours with the lowest caffeine decrease of 73% with caffeine content of 0.65%, chlorogenic acid content of 0.43%, total phenolic 159.43 mg GAE/g, total flavonoids 42.48 mg QE/g, total dissolved solids 368 ppm, total acid was 0.22% and pH 4.92. The conclusion of this study was that the best decaffeination time using the Swiss Water Process (SWP) method for 24 hours because it provides the best decrease in caffeine levels by 73% and provides the highest increase in flavonoid and phenolic compounds. Decaffeination time will affect the content of decaffeinated Arabica coffee produced, namely the longer the decaffeination time, the levels of caffeine, chlorogenic acid, pH, total solids and total acid will decrease. Meanwhile, total phenolics and flavonoids will increase during the decaffeination process.

Keywords: Caffeine, decaffeination, green bean arabica

Topic: Food Chemistry