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Elimination of tryptamines from green coffee by supercritical CO 2 extraction
Author(s) -
Baldino Lucia,
Scognamiglio Mariarosa,
Reverchon Ernesto
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.23928
Subject(s) - tryptamine , chemistry , supercritical fluid , tryptamines , supercritical fluid extraction , residue (chemistry) , chromatography , selectivity , green coffee , extraction (chemistry) , food science , organic chemistry , biochemistry , catalysis
Supercritical CO 2 (SC‐CO 2 ) extraction is commonly used to eliminate caffeine from coffee beans. In this work, the feasibility of tryptamine elimination is considered as a further objective of the process. SC‐CO 2 extraction process parameters (eg, pressure, CO 2 flow rate, water content) were studied to obtain tryptamine reduction, starting from those used in supercritical decaffeination. A good compromise, in terms of tryptamine residue in coffee beans, and process feasibility and selectivity, was found operating at 280 bar and 0.8 kg/h CO 2 , at a starting H 2 O content in coffee beans of 20% w/w. Using these process conditions, a tryptamine residue of 218 ppm (ppm) was measured in coffee beans after 18 hours of processing. A negligible effect on process selectivity and tryptamine yield was obtained by changing the CO 2 flow rate and the initial water content. However, working at an initial water content of 30% w/w and using wet CO 2 (CO 2 plus 3% w/w water), a tryptamine residue of 107 ppm in coffee beans was obtained, but industrial complexity and costs increased.