We’ve got some horrible news for caffeine lovers… They are upping decaf status to level ‘natural’. Yes, decaf isn’t just a horrible, superficial process they torture normal coffee beans with anymore – it’s now being grown!
Japanese scientists have discovered a method they call RNA interference which reduces the caffeine levels in coffee plants. This achievement is the result of seven years of research on the coffee plant Coffea canephora and works as follows:
Caffeine is produced in coffee plant cells from a natural plant chemical called xanthosine in three steps. Each step involves a chemical process called methylation. The scientists have managed to silence the second gene involved in this process which means caffeine cannot be produced. Proteins are produced via complementary molecules called mRNA (messenger RNA). The mRNA is read to produce a protein, but RNA interference switches off the process.
Evil – pure evil…
- Read the full article
- Explore the (now ‘old’) process of decaffeination
- Watch this short film: It shows you all the dos and don’ts of making the perfect cuppa
- A world of coffee: Explore the geography behind the coffee bean
