CHAPTER 7: Decaffeination and Irradiation Processes in Coffee Production

Green coffee beans decaffeination and irradiation are important coffee post-harvest processing steps that allow to produce decaffeinated coffee products and raw material after insect and microbial disinfestation, respectively. Insects can cause damage to food as well as leading to consumer objections. The decaffeination process aims at producing coffee products without the caffeine referred to by many as the main motive for not consuming coffee. In addition, it is important to control microbial contamination of the green coffee during all stages of processing, including the raw crop stage, harvesting, processing, packing and exportation, avoiding the production of mycotoxins. The aim of this chapter is to briefly discuss the post-harvest processing steps and their impact on the quality of the final product.