Determination of caffeine in roasted and irradiated coffee beans with gamma rays by high performance liquid chromatography

Abstract

The present study was carried out to investigate a simple, quick and organic solvent saving procedure for the high performance liquid chromatography determination of caffeine in two different coffee beans (Indonesian and Brazilian) which roasted at two different temperatures (150 & 220 ºC) and irradiated at 3, 6, and 9 kGy doses by gamma rays. A linear calibration curve was generated with caffeine concentration ranging from 0.005 to 0.25 mg/g with correlation coefficient (R²= 0.9995, n=4) and relative standard deviation ? 2.1 %. The developed procedure provided a 7.3 x 10^-9 mg/g and 2.2 x 10^-8 mg/g limit of detection and limit of quantification, respectively. The developed method was repeatable and could be applied to determine trace amounts of caffeine in popular irradiated coffee beans with three different irradiation doses. Moreover, irradiation treatments at doses up to 9 kGy showed no significant effect on the caffeine content.

Keywords: Caffeine determination; High performance liquid chromatography;  Coffee bean; Roasting; Gamma rays; Statistical analysis