Uses high-pressure carbon dioxide, about 300 atm at 65 C in one description, to extract caffeine from green beans.
CO2 decaffeination uses supercritical carbon dioxide to extract caffeine. One reference gives conditions of 300 atm and 65 C and says the recovered caffeine is more than 90% pure. It was developed by Kurt Zosel of the Max Planck Institute, and a large facility in Italy is cited as producing 10,000 tons of decaf per year.
How it worksSupercritical carbon dioxide extracts the caffeine. One reference gives conditions of 300 atm and 65 C and says the recovered caffeine is more than 90% pure.
History
Developed by Kurt Zosel, a scientist at the Max Planck Institute. One reference cites a major facility in Italy producing 10,000 tons of decaffeinated coffee per year.
Our notes on CO2 (Supercritical) Decaffeination are still being checked against their sources, so for now this page shows only the facts we can stand behind.
At the same stage
Sources · 1 Every sentence here was checked against a source we read. Taste notes are what guides describe, not promises about your bag. Last revised 2026-09-30. Some details here are less settled than others.
- Decaffeination · Wikimedia Foundation