Posted on 06/23/2004 4:32:35 PM PDT by blam
It's coffee, the natural way
June 23 2004 at 07:24AM
Paris - Delighted Brazilian scientists say they have found a rare variety of coffee plant that should provide the world's first cup of naturally decaffeinated but full-tasting coffee.
The home of the plant is in Ethiopia, but its remarkable qualities were spotted by agricultural researchers in Campinas, in Sao Paulo state, who were screening 3 000 coffee bushes that are being grown under a programme launched in 1987 aimed at reducing caffeine content in coffee beans.
The plants are varieties of Coffea arabica, a species which accounts for 70 percent of all coffee consumed in the world.
Three specimens of the precious variety, called AC1, AC2 and AC3, were found to be "almost completely free" of caffeine, the Brazilians say.
The study is reported on Thursday in the British science weekly, Nature. Lead researcher is Paulo Mazzafera of the Universidade Estadual de Campinas.
Decaffeinated coffee accounts for about 10 percent of the world coffee market, but experts say demand would soar if a way were found to produce decaffeinated beans naturally.
Decaffeination is achieved by an industrial process in which the beans are exposed to a solvent to leach out the caffeine.
But that also destroys many of the compounds that make up the complex bouquet of flavours in a good cup of coffee. The process is also energy intensive, and this adds to the price.
Last year, Japanese biotechnologists announced they had developed a genetically-modified bush that reduced the activity of caffeine genes in a common strain of coffee plant, Coffea canephora, by between 50 and 70 percent.
But genetically-engineered plants run into flak from environmentalists, who fear the altered genes could be handed on to other species and may also affect human health.
The Brazilian researchers say the next task is to transfer the genes from AC1, AC2 and AC3 into mainstream varieties of Coffea arabica.
The goal is a product which combines the best qualities - an easy-to-grow coffee that has full flavour but is naturally caffeine-free.
But this task can be done through conventional crossbreeding using tissue culture, and not through recombinant DNA, they believe.
"Given that Coffea arabica has a narrow genetic diversity and that even varieties from Ethiopia and Arabia, as well as old varieties, all produce high-quality coffee, it is likely that AC plants will produce a good beverage," they say.
Previous attempts to graft caffeine-free traits from a wild coffee plant found in Madagascar to Coffea arabica were disastrous.
This was because Coffea arabica has a strong genetic barrier that resists genes imported from other strains. The coffee tasted horrible.
Coffee belongs to the botanical family Rubiaceae, which has some 500 genera and over 6 000 species.
Beans are produced in more than 60 countries, providing a livelihood for 25 million farming families around the world.
Retail sales of coffee as a drink amount to more than 70 billion dollars a year, according to the International Coffee Organisation's website.
The Brazilian researchers say that the discovery highlights the advantages of gene banks, for it shows how stores of genetic diversity can offer commercial gain. - Sapa-AFP
It's the caffeine, stupid!
I have a violent allergic reaction to this crap and I am the only person I have ever heard of who does.
Anybody else here who does?
With all the varieties of beans and roasts out there, coffee is wonderful stuff.
I drink it black. I don't drink flavored coffee either.
caffiends is who coffee was invented for...caffeine is what they put in coffee to make it taste good...kinda like fat in french fries...
sheesh...
I've heard there are others. You're not alone.
There's also a water process to remove caffine from coffee, if you're really interested in drinking coffee without it.
It is Methlyne Chloride or Dichlromethane that is used to remove the caffine.
http://www.inform.umd.edu/CampusInfo/Departments/EnvirSafety/compliance/factsheet/methylenechloride.html
For at least some of us, Coffee IS that delicious!
Then again, drinking hot liquids of any nature in this hellhole called Houston is questionable behavior.
No interest in drinking decaf but the last time I had it was from a gas station and I asked the attendant if she was sure it was regular coffee. About three miles down the interstate it felt as if the top of my head was going to blow off and I knew what it was from.
Decaf cola does the same thing to me. 7-Up advertizes their drink never had it and never will. It doesn't bother me at all and probably whatever they make their drink from is naturally caffine free.
Thanks, it's nice to know that I am not alone.
Decaffeinated coffee is a tool of the Food Fascists.
Abso-livin'-lutely!!
Good ol' 1-3-7 trimethyl Xanthene
It's like drinking lite beer.
Dunkin' doesnt take a lot of skill. There's an awful lot of coffee in Brazil.
Okay, Kona is pretty darn good. But I think anyone who drinks decaf Kona should be shot.
I'm partial to New Guinea. Very nice complex almost chocolaty taste.
ITS A CRIME AGAINST NATURE....the FDA is behind it all;they want us all to remain compliantly stuperousDEATH TO DE-CAFF!!
...OK ,done ranting,where's my tinfoil hat,teddy bear and coffe mug?
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