Coffee lovers will soon enjoy an all-natural decaffeinated brew, the science journal Nature says.
Researchers from the Institute of Biology of the Universidade Estadual de Campinas in Brazil discovered a rare Ethiopian variety of Coffea arabica that could produce a natural decaffeinated coffee. The plant Coffea arabica accounts for 70 per cent of the world’s coffee market.
Paulo Mazzafera, a vegetal physiology professor, wrote in the Nature’s June 23 issue that his research team accidentally found three Coffea specimens, dubbed AC1, AC2 and AC3 to lack caffeine-producing enzymes.
Mazzafera said that the plants are not yet ready for commercial production, but can be available in five years if crossbreeding of the new species with Coffea arabica be conducted.
“These coffee plants have approximately 20 times less caffeine than regular coffee, and double amount of caffeine of the industrially produced decaf coffee,” Mazzafera said.
Processed decaffeinated coffee, though made from natural coffee beans, is expensive to manufacture and tastes different from the average coffee as key flavors are removed. Natural decaffeinated coffee on the other hand is healthier and economical. Jefferson O. Evalarosa
