ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my sincere
thanks and gratitude to my Chemistry
teacher Sir Rupjyoti Saikia for giving
me this wonderful opportunity to learn
and do this project on Analysis of
Caffeine Content in Different Samples
of Tea. I also thank our Principal
Madam Mrs. Chandralekha Rawat for her
guidance and support in the completion
of this project. I would also like to
thank the Chemistry laboratory
technician Noor Mohammad Sir for the
valuable information provided by him.
I am grateful for his cooperation
during the period of my assignment.
I shall ever remain grateful to my
parents for the continuous support
and guidance who have helped me in
the timely completion of this
assignment.
INTRODUCTION
Caffeine is a central nervous system
(CNS) stimulant of the methyl xanthine
class. It is the world's most widely
consumed psychoactive drug. Unlike
many other psychoactive substances,
it is legal and unregulated in nearly
all parts of the world. There are
several known mechanisms of action to
explain the effects of caffeine. The
most prominent is that it blocks the
action of adenosine on its receptor
and consequently prevents the onset of
drowsiness induced by adenosine.
Caffeine is a bitter, white
crystalline purin, a methyl xanthine
alkaloid, and is chemically related to
the adenine and guanine gases of
deoxyribonucleic acids(DNA) and
ribonucleic acids (RNA). The most
well-known source of caffeine is the
coffee bean, a misnomer for the seed
of Coffee plants. Beverages containing
caffeine are ingested to relieve or
prevent drowsiness and to improve
performance. To make these drinks,
caffeine is extracted by steeping the
plant product in water, a process
called infusion. Caffeine containing
drinks, such as coffee, tea and cola,
are very popular.
CAFFEINE CONTENT IN TEA
Tea contains more caffeine than
coffee by dry weight. A typical
serving, however, contains much less,
since tea is normally brewed more
weakly than coffee. Also contributing
to caffeine content are growing
conditions, processing techniques and
other variables. Thus, tea contains
variable amounts of caffeine.
Preparation and many other factors
have a significant effect on tea and
colour is a very poor indicator if
caffeine content. Teas like the pale
Japanese green tea, gyokuro, for
example, contain far more caffeine
than teas like lapsangsouchong, which
has very little.
AIM:- To study the caffeine content
of different tea samples.
MATERIALS REQUIRED:-
Tea leaves
Beakers
• Funnel
Separating Funnel
• Conical Flask
• Bunsen Burner
• Filter Paper
Gauge
• Tripod Stand
CHEMICALS REQUIRED:-
• Chloroform
• Lead Acetate Solution
THEORY
caffeine is a common cardiac and
respiratory stimulant. It acts as
a diuretic also. It is a white
tasteless substance having
structure close to the purine base
found in Deoxyribonucleic acid
(DNA).
O CH3
CH3
Structure of Caffeine
Caffeine is usually isolated from
natural products. It is found in coffee
beans, tea leaves, kola nuts and cocoa
beans. Cola drinks contain 14-25 mg
of caffeine per 100 ml. Tea leaves have
35% by weight of caffeine and coffee
beans only about 20% by weight.
PROCEDURE
1. Take about 50gm of tea leaves in
400m! beaker. Add to it about 300ml
of water. Boil the contents for
about 15-20 mins and filter while
hot. Collect the filtrate in another
clean beaker.
2. To the hot filtrate, add aqueous
solution of Lead Acetate with
constant stirring until no
precipitate is formed. Now filter
this mixture.
3. The filtrate thus obtained is
heated and reduced to a volume of
20ml and then cooled down to room
temperature.
4. Add about 20ml of chloroform to
the cold filtrate. Stir the
resulting mixture thoroughly and
transfer it to a clean separating
funnel.
5. When the mixture separates into
two distinct layers, the chloroform
is then collected in a china dish.
6. The chloroform extract is then
exposed to atmosphere in order to
allow chloroform to be evaporated.
7. The pale, whitish- green needle-
shaped crystals left behind is the
caffeine.
OBSERVATIONS AND CALCULATIONS
Weight of china dish (Wo): 48 g
RESULTS
1. Quantity of caffeine in Golaghat
Supreme Tea is
1.6% in 50 g of sample.
2. Quantity of caffeine in Nameri
Tea is 1% in 50 g of sample.
3. Quantity of caffeine in
Korangini Tea is 1.5% in 50 g
of sample.
