Recent advances in the processing of green tea biomolecules using ethyl lactate. A review

Conclusions A diversity of results has been reported for the different green solvents and extraction techniques studied to remove caffeine from green tea leaves and extracts in the last years. Nevertheless, despite the solvent used, the loss of catechins is unavoidable to some extent. In this sense, ethyl lactate has demonstrated higher selectivity and efficiency with respect to commercial and other agrochemical solvents currently used to that end. Additionally, combining ethyl lactate with Supercritical CO2 Anti-Solvent technique, a decaffeinated green tea precipitate could be obtained, overcoming limitations of presently studied procedures to obtain decaffeinated extracts and demonstrating to be a selective and effective alternative for catechins purification.
Source: Trends in Food Science and Technology - Category: Food Science Source Type: research