The kinetics and mechanism of caffeine infusion from coffee: The effect of particle size
Abstract
Measurements have been made of the rate of infusion of caffeine into distilled water from medium roast Kenyan Arabica coffee beans and from eight sieved fractions of the ground beans at 25.8°C. The first‐order rate constants increased dramatically as the particle size decreased. For one of the size fractions the rate constants were then measured at various temperatures up to 84.1°C and were found to rise eight‐fold over this temperature interval. The partition coefficients of caffeine between ground beans and water were also determined. These results, interpreted by a new steady‐state theory of extraction, show that the rate‐determining step in the infusion is diffusion of caffeine through the swollen coffee particles. The low magnitude of the diffusion coefficient and its high activation energy demonstrate that caffeine diffusion within the bean particles is a hindered process.
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The results of this study validate earlier models proposed by Moroney et al. and Spiro and Seldwood and extend their findings into cold brew extraction over long time periods.
“The results of this study validate earlier models proposed by by Moroney et al.35,45 and Spiro and Seldwood52 and extend their findings into cold brew extraction over long time periods.”
From The Effect of Time, Roasting Temperature, and Grind Size on Caffeine and Chlorogenic Acid Concentrations in Cold Brew Coffee (2017) · cites this paper as [52]
Diffusion of caffeine through the intragranular pore space is the rate limiting step in the extraction process.
“Spiro and Selwood36 offered a thorough mathematical model for the kinetics of caffeine extraction at room temperature, and found that the diffusion of caffeine through the intragranular pore space to be the rate limiting step in the extraction process.”
From The Effect of Time, Roasting Temperature, and Grind Size on Caffeine and Chlorogenic Acid Concentrations in Cold Brew Coffee (2017) · cites this paper as [36]
The data collected in this work follows the Spiro and Selwood model well and suggests that cold brew processes of 3-CGA extraction are governed by first-order kinetics.
“The data collected in this current work follows the Spiro and Selwood36 model well and suggests that cold brew processes of 3-CGA extraction are governed by first-order kinetics.”
From The Effect of Time, Roasting Temperature, and Grind Size on Caffeine and Chlorogenic Acid Concentrations in Cold Brew Coffee (2017) · cites this paper as [36]
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Comparison of nine common coffee extraction methods: Instrumental and sensory analysis
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The Kinetics and Mechanism of Caffeine Infusion from Coffee: The Effect of Roasting
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- Authors
- Spiro, M., & Selwood, R. M.
- Affiliations
- Imperial College London (GB)
- Venue
- Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1984-08
- Volume
- 35
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 915-924
- ISSN
- 0022-5142 (ISSN-L)
- 1097-0010
- OpenAlex
- W1993983311
- Cited by
- 115
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 3.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Coffee research and impacts
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Agricultural and Biological Research
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Food Chemistry and Fat Analysis
- Keywords
- coffee beans, particle size, diffusion, rate-determining step, partition coefficient, extraction kinetics, activation energy, diffusion coefficient
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