THE EXTRACTION OF CAFFEINE IN TWININGS’ JASMINE GREEN TEA LEAVES

Group 3 2A Pharmacy Organic Chemistry Laboratory

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this experiment is to isolate, purify and calculate the percentage yield of caffeine by using single
extraction. Caffeine was extracted from Twinings’ Jasmine green tea leaves by using dichloromethane in order to
obtain pure sample. The collected extract was covered with a perforated filter paper and was then evaporated under
the hood for two days until only the caffeine residue was left. The percent yield was computed by getting the ratio of
the weight of the caffeine and weight of the tea leaves used. The percentage yield was 0.82% while the weight of the
extracted caffeine was 0.08g. The caffeine content of a tea greatly depends on the amount and quality of leaf, the leaf
particle size, the brand, water temperature and steeping time.
EXPERIMENTAL
INTRODUCTION A. TEST COMPOUND
Caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive 10g of Twinings’ Jasmine green tea leaves
substance on the planet. To some people, it
already becomes a necessity for them to be able B. PROCEDURE
to stay awake and function throughout the day. All equipment and materials needed for the
There are many food and drinks that contain experiment were prepared. Chemical apparatuses
caffeine which includes chocolate, some yogurt, such as the evaporating dish, and beaker were
coffee bean, energy drink and also tea. Human weighed using a weighing scale that resulted to
exploration and trade of tea and coffee soon 109.67g and 161.9g. After so, 4.4g of anhydrous
caused caffeine use to be spread throughout the sodium carbonate was measured then was placed
world and today greater than 80% of the world’s in a 500mL breaker together with 100mL distilled
population uses caffeine in some form or another. water. The said mixture was then heated in a
[1] One of the most commonly used caffeinated water bath until the solid dissociated. After that,
beverages in the world is tea. The caffeine 10g of tea leaves were measured and were
(C8H10N4O2) found in tea is a bitter, white, added to the dissolved mixture. It was then
crystalline methyl xanthine and a member of a covered using a watchglass for 10 minutes until it
class of compounds known as alkaloids. [2] boiled on a low flame. The mixture was then
filtered using a piece of cheesecloth by removing
the tea leaves and by squeezing it until all the
liquids were removed. After letting the extract
cool on a room temperature, the aqueous
solution was extracted with 60mL of
dichloromethane by using a separatory funnel.
When the separation between two layers became
visible after letting it stand for 2 minutes, the
Figure 1. Lewis Structure of Caffeine. Retrieved organic layer was drained while the aqueous
from: Google.com layer was discarded.

In order to remove caffeine in tea, extraction,

which is a method used for the separation of
organic compound from a mixture of compound,
is applied. This technique selectively dissolves
one or more compounds into an appropriate
solvent. The solution of these dissolved
compounds is referred to as the extract. [3]
Extraction has several methods but in organic
chemistry, liquid-liquid technique is a very
common method.
Figure 2. A picture of the two layers in a
separatory funnel. The top part is the aqueous
layer while the bottom part is the organic layer.
The extract was then transferred into a tared
evaporating dish using a funnel with a filter paper
that contained half a spatula of anhydrous
sodium sulfate. The evaporating dish that In this experiment, 9.81g of Twining’s Jasmine
contained the collected extract was covered with green tea leaves were used. The weight of the
a perforated filter paper and was placed inside crude caffeine obtained from the experiment was
the locker for 2 days to let it evaporate to 0.08 grams, having a percent yield of 0.82%.
dryness. After getting the residue, the Thus, the experimental results show that a tea
percentage recovery of caffeine was then bag of Twinings’ Jasmine green tea has
calculated. approximately 16 milligrams of crude caffeine.
Ideally, 8 fluid ounces of Jasmine green tea has
25 milligrams of caffeine. [4]
The caffeine content per tea bag was calculated
by dividing the weight of the extracted caffeine
over the number of tea bags which was 0.08g
over 5 tea bags. The lower yield of 0.016g or 16
mg per tea bag compared to the ideal amount of
25mg can be attributed to some errors done
during the experiment.

Types of Fluid Caffeine Milligrams

Tea Ounce (mg) per fluid
ounce
Black Tea 8 42 5.2
Figure 3. Extraction set-up. Retrieved from: Green Tea 8 25 3.1
https://dokumen.tips Jasmine 8 25 3.1
Tea
The weights of the materials used were Oolong Tea 8 37 4.6
recorded in order to calculate the final amount of White Tea 8 28 3.5
caffeine product in grams. The final amount of Table 2. Caffeine Content of Drinks (Tea).
caffeine extracted could then be used to calculate Retrieved from:
the percent recovery. https://www.caffeineinformer.com/the-caffeine-
database
Tea Brand Twinings’ Jasmine Green
Tea
Weight of tea leaves used 9.81g
Based from the result, it was observed that it
contains some errors due to human errors. The
Weight of evaporating 109.75g
extraction method may have been one of the
dish + caffeine
causes for which the caffeine might not be fully
Weight of evaporating 109.67g
dish extracted from the cheesecloth. Thus, the
Weight of caffeine 0.08g collected residue might not be accurate. Other
than that, the apparatuses and compounds used
Table 1. Data Gathered might not be properly tared for which the
laboratory have only two weighing scale for eight
The percent recovery was obtained by using groups that might have caused rushing of work.
the formula： Another error that might have contributed to the
result is that, when the extract was collected
Yield of caffeine =
from the separatory funnel, the cork on top of it
= was not removed, which might have caused
pressure to build up and cause bubbling that
might have an effect to the extract.
Meanwhile on average, a cup of black tea has
Yield of caffeine = 0.82% about 50 milligrams of caffeine—less than half
the amount in a cup of brewed coffee, which has
(100-200mg). The longer the steep time for tea,
the stronger the extraction of caffeine. Black tea
is typically steeped for 5 minutes; green tea is
typically steeped for 2 minutes and white tea for
1 minute. Generally, black tea will contain more
caffeine than green or white tea. Another variable
Figure 4. Weight of evaporating dish plus caffeine for consideration is the amount of tea in the tea
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION bag. The more tea content in the tea bag, the
more caffeine available to be extracted. https://www.twiningsusa.com/customer-
Additionally, the cup size or the amount of water service/faqs 10/1/18
does not affect the caffeine content. [5]

REFERENCES
[1] Caffeine Informer. (2016). Caffeine: Facts,
Usage, and Side Effects. Retrieved September
29, 2018 from
https://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-
trimethylxanthine
[2] Postu, A. (2013). Isolation of Caffeine from
Tea Leaves via Acid-Base Liquid-Liquid
Extraction. Retrieved September 29, 2018 from
https://edspace.american.edu/ap7794a/wp-
content/uploads/sites/159/2015/03/Isolation-of-
Caffeine-from-Tea-Leaves-via-Acid-Base-Liquid-
Liquid-Extraction.pdf
[3] vlab.amrita.edu,. (2011). Extraction of
Caffeine from Tea. Retrieved October 1, 2018
from vlab.amrita.edu/?
sub=3&brch=64&sim=169&cnt=1
[4] Caffeine Informer. (n.d.). Tea (Jasmine).
Retrieved October 2, 3018 from
https://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-
content/jasmine-tea
[5] Twinings’ North America. (2018). Twinings’
USA Customer Service FAQS. Retrieved October
1, 2018 from
https://www.twiningsusa.com/customer-
service/faqs
[6] Tana, D., Tigulo, C.Y., Yonzon, A.C. (2016).
Extraction of Caffeine from Tea Leaves. Retrieved
October 2, 2018 from
https://www.scribd.com/document/345300114/E
xperiment-3-Extraction-of-Caffeine-from-Tea-
Leaves

From the internet (on-line)

Caffeine Informer. Caffeine: Facts, Usage, and
Side Effects.
https://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-
trimethylxanthine 9/29/18
Caffeine Informer. Tea (Jasmine).
https://www.caffeineinformer.com/caffeine-
content/jasmine-tea 10/2/18
Postu, A. Isolation of Caffeine from Tea Leaves
via Acid-Base Liquid-Liquid Extraction.
https://edspace.american.edu/ap7794a/wp-
content/uploads/sites/159/2015/03/Isolation-of-
Caffeine-from-Tea-Leaves-via-Acid-Base-Liquid-
Liquid-Extraction.pdf 9/29/18
Tana, D., Tigulo, C.Y., Yonzon, A.C. Extraction of
Caffeine from Tea Leaves.
https://www.scribd.com/document/345300114/E
xperiment-3-Extraction-of-Caffeine-from-Tea-
Leaves 10/2/18
Twinings’ North America. Twinings’ USA
Customer Service FAQS.