View entire thread: Genetically engineered decaf coffee
Posted by manual_drip on 2004-10-16 11:31:20 Post Subject: Genetically engineered decaf coffee
Maybe they could also make genetically engineered increased-caffeine coffee?
Coffee without a buzz?
Plants genetically modified to lose caffeine
By ALEX DOMINGUEZ
Associated Press
For those who love the full flavor of real coffee but can't handle the kick, the genetics revolution may have a solution.
Researchers say they have genetically engineered coffee plants that have 70 percent less caffeine than usual in their leaves. The crucial question for brewing coffee - whether beans from those plants will have less caffeine - won't be known for three to four years when the plants mature, said study author Shinjiro Ogita.
However, the results indicate it should be possible, according to the researcher's report in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.
The researchers at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology in Japan used RNA interference - an increasingly popular genetic tool - to manipulate the plant, interfering with the gene responsible for an enzyme used to make caffeine.
Experts contend a caffeine-free bean would be an improvement over current decaffeination processes, which use water or organic solvents to remove the stimulant from the beans before they are roasted, taking out some flavor and aroma as well.
Alan Crozier, a University of Glasgow researcher who has worked on genetically modifying coffee, said the Japanese group is the first to engineer the plants to produce less caffeine.
However, concerns about genetically modified foods and a lack of interest by the coffee industry could slow development, Crozier said.
"I suspect it will come in first at the boutique end of the market and grow from there," Crozier said. "If it were to take over, clearly it's a much cheaper way to produce decaffeinated coffee."
Pablo Dubois of the London-based International Coffee Organization, which includes coffee-producing and consuming nations, said genetically modified foods "are regarded with wide suspicion in Europe" and current decaffeination processes are well established.
John Stiles, a scientist working to develop a caffeine-free coffee plant for Waialua, Hawaii-based Integrated Coffee Technologies Inc., said the Japanese researchers have not yet reached the commercial decaffeination level of 97 percent.
Stiles said the Hawaiian company hopes to have plants ready for field use in a year. While the Japanese researchers used the robusta variety of coffee plant, Stiles said the Hawaiian work uses the more commercial arabica variety.
Ogita said the Japanese researchers are also working on arabica plants and should be able to eventually remove all caffeine.
Coffee plants make caffeine in a three-step process. The targeted gene in the modified plant normally prompts the plant to produce an enzyme that carries out the second step, said Hiroshi Sano, one of the paper's authors.
RNA interference eliminates the chemical messenger the targeted gene sends to the cell's protein-making machinery.
The researchers are also working to induce plants other than coffee to produce caffeine, which would act as a pest repellant, Sano said.
At the Daily Grind in Baltimore, some welcomed the news of the genetically modified coffee plant and others were as lukewarm as a half-finished cappuccino.
Marcia Sternbergh, 52, of Baltimore said she prefers regular coffee for the taste, "and the jolt."
At night, though, she would drink the non-caffeine kind.
Harold Cones, 60, of Newport News, Va., who has to drink decaf because of an irregular heartbeat, said he would welcome the new coffee because he could avoid caffeine and get the flavor.
"Oh, that would be good. There's a difference," Cones said, sipping a decaf. "Every now and then I have a cup of real coffee and it's really nice."
While some decaf is good, Cones said it tends to get stale because it's not ordered as much. The real thing is still the best, however.
"Sometimes, you get that cup of coffee," Cones said, "and you think you're high in the mountains, in an old hotel, and the aroma goes up into your sinuses and you say, 'That's a good cup of coffee.'"
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/silico ... 115818.htm
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Posted by manual_drip on 2004-10-16 11:31:20 Post Subject: Genetically engineered decaf coffee
Maybe they could also make genetically engineered increased-caffeine coffee?
Coffee without a buzz?
Plants genetically modified to lose caffeine
By ALEX DOMINGUEZ
Associated Press
For those who love the full flavor of real coffee but can't handle the kick, the genetics revolution may have a solution.
Researchers say they have genetically engineered coffee plants that have 70 percent less caffeine than usual in their leaves. The crucial question for brewing coffee - whether beans from those plants will have less caffeine - won't be known for three to four years when the plants mature, said study author Shinjiro Ogita.
However, the results indicate it should be possible, according to the researcher's report in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.
The researchers at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology in Japan used RNA interference - an increasingly popular genetic tool - to manipulate the plant, interfering with the gene responsible for an enzyme used to make caffeine.
Experts contend a caffeine-free bean would be an improvement over current decaffeination processes, which use water or organic solvents to remove the stimulant from the beans before they are roasted, taking out some flavor and aroma as well.
Alan Crozier, a University of Glasgow researcher who has worked on genetically modifying coffee, said the Japanese group is the first to engineer the plants to produce less caffeine.
However, concerns about genetically modified foods and a lack of interest by the coffee industry could slow development, Crozier said.
"I suspect it will come in first at the boutique end of the market and grow from there," Crozier said. "If it were to take over, clearly it's a much cheaper way to produce decaffeinated coffee."
Pablo Dubois of the London-based International Coffee Organization, which includes coffee-producing and consuming nations, said genetically modified foods "are regarded with wide suspicion in Europe" and current decaffeination processes are well established.
John Stiles, a scientist working to develop a caffeine-free coffee plant for Waialua, Hawaii-based Integrated Coffee Technologies Inc., said the Japanese researchers have not yet reached the commercial decaffeination level of 97 percent.
Stiles said the Hawaiian company hopes to have plants ready for field use in a year. While the Japanese researchers used the robusta variety of coffee plant, Stiles said the Hawaiian work uses the more commercial arabica variety.
Ogita said the Japanese researchers are also working on arabica plants and should be able to eventually remove all caffeine.
Coffee plants make caffeine in a three-step process. The targeted gene in the modified plant normally prompts the plant to produce an enzyme that carries out the second step, said Hiroshi Sano, one of the paper's authors.
RNA interference eliminates the chemical messenger the targeted gene sends to the cell's protein-making machinery.
The researchers are also working to induce plants other than coffee to produce caffeine, which would act as a pest repellant, Sano said.
At the Daily Grind in Baltimore, some welcomed the news of the genetically modified coffee plant and others were as lukewarm as a half-finished cappuccino.
Marcia Sternbergh, 52, of Baltimore said she prefers regular coffee for the taste, "and the jolt."
At night, though, she would drink the non-caffeine kind.
Harold Cones, 60, of Newport News, Va., who has to drink decaf because of an irregular heartbeat, said he would welcome the new coffee because he could avoid caffeine and get the flavor.
"Oh, that would be good. There's a difference," Cones said, sipping a decaf. "Every now and then I have a cup of real coffee and it's really nice."
While some decaf is good, Cones said it tends to get stale because it's not ordered as much. The real thing is still the best, however.
"Sometimes, you get that cup of coffee," Cones said, "and you think you're high in the mountains, in an old hotel, and the aroma goes up into your sinuses and you say, 'That's a good cup of coffee.'"
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/silico ... 115818.htm
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View entire thread: Naturally Caffeine-Free Coffee
Posted by topher on 2004-08-02 13:14:29 Post Subject:
Coffee without caffeine is growing in the wild!
Washington | June 24, 2004 4:34:14 PM IST
If you are one of those health conscious people who like coffee but are wary of the caffeine in it, there is god news for you.
According to Nature, Brazilian researchers have discovered naturally caffeine-free coffee by breeding 3,000 Ethiopian coffee plants as part of a programme to produce low-caffeine strains.
They found three bushes, all derived from the same plant, that were virtually caffeine free, containing 15 times less stimulant than commercial strains. The shrubs belong to the species Coffea arabica, the most cultivated and consumed coffee in the world.
According to Paulo Mazzafera from the State University of Campinas, who co-discovered the plants, "This is the first time anyone has found a decaffeinated version of Coffea arabica."
The researchers have not been able to taste any coffee made from the plants as these will take several years to mature. The bushes also grow around 30 percent more slowly than standard arabica plants, so the team hopes to crossbreed them with their caffeine-rich relatives to produce a fast-growing, caffeine-free variety. But selective breeding like this can take ten years or more. (ANI)
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Posted by topher on 2004-08-02 13:14:29 Post Subject:
Coffee without caffeine is growing in the wild!
Washington | June 24, 2004 4:34:14 PM IST
If you are one of those health conscious people who like coffee but are wary of the caffeine in it, there is god news for you.
According to Nature, Brazilian researchers have discovered naturally caffeine-free coffee by breeding 3,000 Ethiopian coffee plants as part of a programme to produce low-caffeine strains.
They found three bushes, all derived from the same plant, that were virtually caffeine free, containing 15 times less stimulant than commercial strains. The shrubs belong to the species Coffea arabica, the most cultivated and consumed coffee in the world.
According to Paulo Mazzafera from the State University of Campinas, who co-discovered the plants, "This is the first time anyone has found a decaffeinated version of Coffea arabica."
The researchers have not been able to taste any coffee made from the plants as these will take several years to mature. The bushes also grow around 30 percent more slowly than standard arabica plants, so the team hopes to crossbreed them with their caffeine-rich relatives to produce a fast-growing, caffeine-free variety. But selective breeding like this can take ten years or more. (ANI)
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View entire thread: Naturally Caffeine-Free Coffee
Posted by ralphshade on 2004-08-02 11:32:24 Post Subject: Naturally Caffeine-Free Coffee
About ten years ago at the SCAA conference in Denver someone in one of the forums mentioned that attempts to cultivate a naturally growing caffeine-free coffee were making some headway. I believe that the coffee was from Madagascar. Anybody out there know anything?
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Posted by ralphshade on 2004-08-02 11:32:24 Post Subject: Naturally Caffeine-Free Coffee
About ten years ago at the SCAA conference in Denver someone in one of the forums mentioned that attempts to cultivate a naturally growing caffeine-free coffee were making some headway. I believe that the coffee was from Madagascar. Anybody out there know anything?
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View entire thread: Healthy and good tasting Decaf that doesn't cost a ton?
Posted by topgourmetcoffee on 2006-12-03 00:24:24 Post Subject: How much caffeine is in decaf coffee?
In the United States federal regulations require that in order to label coffee as "decaffeinated" that coffee must have had its caffeine level reduced by no less than 97.5 percent.
When 97% of the caffeine has been removed only .0408 % of the coffee weight is caffeine. About 4/100ths of 1%. At this level it is labeled "decaffeinated.”
How roasters label their products is another matter. Suppose two roasters roast coffee that originally came from the same lot, and were decaffeinated together in the same vat.
One roaster labels his decaf. "97.5% Caffeine Removed." The other says his is "99+% Caffeine Free." Which roaster is not telling the truth?
The answer is: They are both right. They are both essentially saying the same thing.
Decaf should range somewhere in the 2-4 milligrams of caffeine per cup range. Currently used solvents for decaffeinating coffee include:
H2O (water)
CO2 (Carbon Dioxide)
Meth
Chloride
Ethyl Acetate
& Swiss Water Decaffeinated uses "flavor-charged" water in the decaffeinating process.
You can find out even more about what the exact process of decaffienation at TopGourmetCoffee under decaf coffee.
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Posted by topgourmetcoffee on 2006-12-03 00:24:24 Post Subject: How much caffeine is in decaf coffee?
In the United States federal regulations require that in order to label coffee as "decaffeinated" that coffee must have had its caffeine level reduced by no less than 97.5 percent.
When 97% of the caffeine has been removed only .0408 % of the coffee weight is caffeine. About 4/100ths of 1%. At this level it is labeled "decaffeinated.”
How roasters label their products is another matter. Suppose two roasters roast coffee that originally came from the same lot, and were decaffeinated together in the same vat.
One roaster labels his decaf. "97.5% Caffeine Removed." The other says his is "99+% Caffeine Free." Which roaster is not telling the truth?
The answer is: They are both right. They are both essentially saying the same thing.
Decaf should range somewhere in the 2-4 milligrams of caffeine per cup range. Currently used solvents for decaffeinating coffee include:
H2O (water)
CO2 (Carbon Dioxide)
Meth
Chloride
Ethyl Acetate
& Swiss Water Decaffeinated uses "flavor-charged" water in the decaffeinating process.
You can find out even more about what the exact process of decaffienation at TopGourmetCoffee under decaf coffee.
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View entire thread: How do you fix Soycofee coffee with an Espresso machine?
Posted by Brent on 2007-01-21 16:35:10 Post Subject:
Thanks,
The reason I was looking for alternatives is because I know that even Decaf isn't 100% Caffeine free.
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Posted by Brent on 2007-01-21 16:35:10 Post Subject:
Thanks,
The reason I was looking for alternatives is because I know that even Decaf isn't 100% Caffeine free.
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View entire thread: How do you fix Soycofee coffee with an Espresso machine?
Posted by cafemakers on 2007-01-21 21:18:48 Post Subject:
The reason I was looking for alternatives is because I know that even Decaf isn't 100% Caffeine free.
You must have quite sensitivity to caffeine! Just out of curiosity, are you on some kind of medication that causes this condition?
Decaffeinated coffee contains approximately 2-5 mg/serving. By comparison, consumption of 200-300 mg per day will have no adverse affect. Not until you reach intake of approximately 500 mg will you begin to see symptoms (headaches, anxiety, insomnia) in an "average" person.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeine/AN01211
The amount of caffeine in decaffeinated coffee is less than 1/10th of a can of cola and as little as 1/25th the amount of a an average chocolate bar. Unless you have some unusual health condition or a diet full of other caffeine laden products, you should be just fine drinking decaffeinated coffee and not have to sacrifice the flavor with unproven and potentially dangerous products.
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Posted by cafemakers on 2007-01-21 21:18:48 Post Subject:
The reason I was looking for alternatives is because I know that even Decaf isn't 100% Caffeine free.
You must have quite sensitivity to caffeine! Just out of curiosity, are you on some kind of medication that causes this condition?
Decaffeinated coffee contains approximately 2-5 mg/serving. By comparison, consumption of 200-300 mg per day will have no adverse affect. Not until you reach intake of approximately 500 mg will you begin to see symptoms (headaches, anxiety, insomnia) in an "average" person.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/caffeine/AN01211
The amount of caffeine in decaffeinated coffee is less than 1/10th of a can of cola and as little as 1/25th the amount of a an average chocolate bar. Unless you have some unusual health condition or a diet full of other caffeine laden products, you should be just fine drinking decaffeinated coffee and not have to sacrifice the flavor with unproven and potentially dangerous products.
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View entire thread: Soy Coffee
Posted by sinceregy on 2003-11-12 21:39:35 Post Subject: Soy Coffee
I found a great beverage that helped me get off coffee. Its made from soybeans and taste absolutely like coffee. I like it even better than coffee. It caffeine free and comes in many flavors (my favorite is mocha)
<snip - spam - duplicate post>
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Posted by sinceregy on 2003-11-12 21:39:35 Post Subject: Soy Coffee
I found a great beverage that helped me get off coffee. Its made from soybeans and taste absolutely like coffee. I like it even better than coffee. It caffeine free and comes in many flavors (my favorite is mocha)
<snip - spam - duplicate post>
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View entire thread: Does Coffee Stunt Your Growth?
Posted by AlisonD on 2007-10-12 16:23:22 Post Subject:
EvenaS,
Your parents told you coffee would stunt your growth because no one wants their kids jacked up on caffeine. This is probably the reason most soda has a caffeine free counterpart. The long and short of it (ha ha) is that caffeine may affect bone density not growth(height) because it disrupts vitamin D absorption, a necessary factor in bone strength.
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Posted by AlisonD on 2007-10-12 16:23:22 Post Subject:
EvenaS,
Your parents told you coffee would stunt your growth because no one wants their kids jacked up on caffeine. This is probably the reason most soda has a caffeine free counterpart. The long and short of it (ha ha) is that caffeine may affect bone density not growth(height) because it disrupts vitamin D absorption, a necessary factor in bone strength.
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