BRAZIL: A Cup of Decaf Coffee? Naturally

By Mario Osava Reprint | | Print |

Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jun 25 2004 (IPS) - Coffee plants that naturally produce a bean with almost no caffeine could be a new niche where Brazil can expand its leadership role in the international coffee markets.

This rarity was found ”hidden” among 3,000 coffee seedlings brought to Brazil from Ethiopia 40 years ago and maintained at the Agronomy Institute of Campinas, IAC, near Sao Paulo.

The chemical processes used to produce decaffeinated coffee from "normal” beans are costly and reduce the coffee’s rich flavour and aroma.

The discovery of a naturally decaffeinated bean opens a whole new panorama for this beverage – the most popular worldwide – overcoming the negatives that are sometimes associated with caffeine, such as insomnia, nervous tension, irregular heartbeat and gastrointestinal problems.

Two IAC researchers and one from the State University of Campinas identified the three plants of the arabica variety (the most widely consumed type of coffee), dubbing them AC1, AC2 and AC3, whose beans contain 20 times less caffeine than normal beans.

”Many people don’t drink coffee at night, though they would like to, because they fear they won’t be able to fall asleep,” Maria Bernardete Silvarolla, the leader of the IAC study that was published Friday in the British science magazine Nature, told IPS.

Naturally decaffeinated coffee could also attract consumers who would not otherwise drink coffee, for instance, people who because of their religious faith do not consume stimulants, said Silvarolla.

In Germany, soluble coffee consumption dropped off when more of the Coffea canephora variety was added, which has more caffeine, noted the scientist.

This naturally decaf variety could be ”yet another option, one that is positive both for consumers and coffee growers, who might be able to get a better price for this crop,” she said.

The world coffee market has been suffering a global slump for the past several years. With prices not even covering production costs, many coffee farmers are abandoning their plantations.

With this new scientific development, Brazil should be able to ”consolidate its position as a supplier of all types and quality levels” of this beverage, conquering new markets and a portion of the industry that now relies on chemical decaffeinating processes, Guilherme Braga Pires, head of the Brazilian Coffee Exporters Council, told IPS.

Decaffeinated coffee currently represents 10 percent of the total coffee consumed in the world, and is on the rise.

But the use of chemical products, some of which are considered harmful to health, and the effects on taste and aroma limit its market penetration, said Braga.

A natural product that would maintain coffee’s inherent properties has greater potential for conquering caffeine-averse consumers.

The coffee processing industry would not be affected much because it also works with other products. Furthermore, the coffee-processing segment of the industry is concentrated almost exclusively in rich countries, said Braga.

Brazilian coffee growers could earn a bigger share of the added value, given that decaf prices are 25 to 30 percent higher than regular coffee, he said.

But the discovery also has other positive aspects. ”My greatest satisfaction is in showing the importance of preserving genetic resources,” said Silvarolla, an agronomist who specialises in genetic improvement.

The finding is ”full validation” of the value of maintaining germplasm banks of plants, cuttings and seeds, not only for coffee, but also for all flora and fauna, she said.

The AC coffee plants, named in honour of Brazil’s pioneering researcher in coffee Alcides de Carvalho, were found during tests of 3,000 plants that had been brought to Brazil from Ethiopia.

Since 1999 the researchers have been systematically studying them, plant by plant. ”Our persistence paid off,” said a contented Silvarolla, noting that they still have 20 percent of the plants to test.

Laboratory tests indicate that the beans produced by AC1, AC2 and AC3 contain just 0.07 percent caffeine, almost nothing compared to the concentration of 1.0 to 1.2 percent in the normal arabica beans, and two percent in the robusta variety, the two main commercially grown coffees in the world.

If the decaf plants prove productive and economically viable, in five to six years Brazil could begin to see commercial production of this new variety, says Silvarolla.

The experts predict that yields would be around 30 percent compared to normal arabica, but could reach 60 percent through genetic improvement techniques, such as cross-breeding.

With that higher level of productivity it could compete with chemically decaffeinated beans, says Mazzafera, because it would have the advantage of lower production costs and the arabica’s taste and aroma.

But if productivity of these naturally decaffeinated plants proves non-viable and the decaf trait would have to be transferred to other varieties through genetic modification techniques, commercial production of decaf beans could take 15 years, Silvarolla said.

Because the coffee plant is a perennial, the process of developing new varieties takes longer than for many other crops.

The search for a decaf or low-caffeine variety has been intense, and Japan created a transgenic variety, based on Coffea canephora, of the robusta family, but the resulting beverage has little flavour.

Furthermore, the caffeine reduction was not as great – 50 to 70 percent – and because it is a genetically modified product there is resistance from environmentalists and consumers alike, said Mazzafera.