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Specialty Chemistry Forums => Citizen Chemist => Topic started by: Teenwent11 on July 30, 2015, 08:48:01 PM

Title: Ethyl Acetate Decaffeination
Post by: Teenwent11 on July 30, 2015, 08:48:01 PM

I'm trying to decaffeinate some specific teas that are not sold decaf. I've read some papers on it and have settled on an ethyl acetate based extraction. In lieu of the mild health risks posed by ethyl acetate, would washing tea leaves in this then drying them at 200F leave behind any harmful residues?

Also does the purity of ethyl acetate matter? I've found them ranging from unlabeled to 99.9%.

Title: Re: Ethyl Acetate Decaffeination
Post by: Arkcon on July 31, 2015, 07:11:49 AM

See the thing about decaffeination with solvents is, whether you use ethyl acetate or super-critical CO2, is you remove some flavor chemicals.  The secret is, you remove the caffeine from the spent solvent, and reuse the now flavored solvent to decaffeinate the next batch.

Yes it is important to use food grade solvents.  And yes, traces of ethyl acetate are always left behind.  Possibly not a health risk quantity when done industrially, but you can't be sure at home.  But if you feel like you can get a pressure vessel you can trust, supercritical CO2 at home sound awesome to me.