The Decaffeination of Robusta Coffee Beans through Extraction Process with Distilled Wate

Abstract

Coffee is one of the popular drinks, consumed by many people in the world. Coffee contains caffeine which has positive and negative effects for human body. The positive effect of caffeine is as an antioxidant in the body. However, if caffeine contents in coffee is too much, it can act as a poison in the body. Therefore, it is necessary to design a process to obtain coffee with a low caffeine that is safe for human body. The decaffeination of robusta coffee beans consisted of the preparation phase of the material, including drying process, the water content analysis, the extraction process with aquadest solvent to take some amount of caffeine contained in coffee powder, and caffeine content analysis before and after extraction processes. This study aims to determine the effect of temperatur (27, 40, 55, 65, 75, and 100oC) and the extraction time (10, 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes) on the amount of caffeine taken in coffee powder and to obtain the optimal operating conditions that are can be used as a condition for low caffeine coffee production. Based on the results of the study, the highest caffeine extracting conditions was in 20 g of coffee/ 500 mL of solvent was at extraction temperature of 100oC with the amount of caffeine taken at 648,445 mg and the extraction time variable was obtained at 120 minutes extraction time with the amount of caffeine taken at 519,241 mg (extraction temperature 60oC). Initial levels of caffeine before extraction in 20 grams of robusta coffee powder was 664.120 mg. Keywords: Robusta coffee, caffeine, decaffeination