Caffeine Extraction from Tea Leaves

Cabural, Lester John A., De Vera, Essl Clea F., *Dela Cruz, Edd Czareena A., Dela Cruz, Jan
Denzel G.
Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, University of Santo Tomas, España,
Sampaloc, Manila

Abstract
Caffeine is a natural stimulant most commonly found in coffee and tea. Today, caffeine is easily extracted and is
used to make a variety of products that are consumed on a daily basis. Multiple extraction technique was used to
extract caffeine from the tea leaves (Thea sinensis). In this experiment, 0.0767g of crude caffeine was successfully
collected after subjecting the the 6.0805g of tea leaves to the entire process of solid-liquid and liquid-liquid
extraction, decantation, and evaporation. A percentage yield of 1.26% was calculated.

Introduction

Tea is believed to have originated in Southwest China during the Shang dynasty as a

medicinal drink (Heiss, 2011). The major components of tea leaves (Thea sinensis) are cellulose,

tannins, chlorophyll, flavonoid pigments, and caffeine. Caffeine is a natural stimulant most

commonly found in tea, coffee and cacao plants. It works by stimulating the brain and central

nervous system, helping a person to stay awake and reducing a person’s tiredness. It may also

increase the brain activity of neurotransmitters and the blood adrenaline levels. This combination

further stimulates the brain and promotes a state of focus and alertness. Because it affects one’s

brain, caffeine is often referred to as a psychoactive drug (Petre, 2016). Abruptly stopping one’s

caffeine intake may cause the person to experience headache, drowsiness or fatigue. However,

factors such as age and body size can make a difference in effect. Tea leaves contain about 15-

35mg caffeine, much less than an average 135mg caffeine in a cup of coffee.

Caffeine was first extracted from cocoa beans in 1821 by a German Scientist named

Friedrich Ferdinand Runge. Today, caffeine is easily extracted and is used to make a variety of

products that are consumed on a daily basis (Haley, 2012). This experiment shows a small-scale

version of what natural products chemists do routinely in purifying, isolating and characterizing
naturally occurring organic compounds. Purification is the removal of impurities while isolation

is the separation of a pure substance from a combined mixture. On the other hand, characterization

is the probe of a material's properties. The objectives of this study are to calculate the percentage

yield of caffeine and to purify, isolate and characterize caffeine from tea leaves.

Methodology

1. Three Lipton tea bags were opened and weighed together in the analytical balance. The

glasswares used, a 100mL beaker and an evaporating dish, were also measured.

2. The mass of tea leaves was returned in a tea bag where it was secured with a staple wire.

3. The tea bag was then added to the prepared 100mL boiling water and was boiled for 5

minutes.

4. The tea bag was filtered and pressed while it was still hot.

5. The tea extract was transferred into a separatory funnel with 20mL dichloromethane

(CH2Cl2) and then two ice cubes were added to it. It was swirled and two layers were

formed.

6. The upper layer of the extract was discarded after three times while the lower layer was

collected in an Erlenmeyer flask.

7. The collected lower layer was returned to the separatory funnel and 20mL of 6M sodium

hydroxide (NaOH) was added to it. It was swirled and two layers—the upper and lower

layer—were formed again.

8. A spatulaful of anhydrous sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) was added to the lower layer. It was

swirled and decanted.

 9. The decantate was transferred to the pre-weighed evaporating dish and was evaporated to

dryness.

10. The final result, the crude caffeine, was weighed and the percentage yield of caffeine was

calculated.

Results

Table 1. Measured weights of glasswares, tea leaves and caffeine

Weight of Beaker 113.1490g
Weight of Beaker and Tea Leaves 119.2295g
Weight of Tea Leaves 6.0805g
Weight of Evaporating Dish 116.2706g
Weight of Evaporating Dish and Crude Caffeine 116.3473g
Weight of Caffeine 0.0767g

Table 2. Percent yield of caffeine extracted from the tea leaves

Percent Yield 1.26%

𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝐶𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑒
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑌𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 = 𝑥 100%
𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑒𝑎 𝐿𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑠

0.0767𝑔
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑌𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 = 𝑥 100%
6.0805𝑔
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑌𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 = 1.2614%
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑌𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 = 1.26%

Discussion

Extraction is the method of separating a substance from a mixture by dissolving the

components of a solvent. In the solid-liquid extraction, tea leaves were extracted using boiling

water. The higher the temperature of the water is, the more soluble the caffeine is. The filtrate
obtained was then used for the liquid-liquid extraction where organic solvents were involved. The

use of these solvents led to the formation of two layers in the separatory funnel, the organic and

the aqueous phases. The upper layer was called the aqueous layer while the lower layer was called

the organic layer. The organic layer was made up of the caffeine extract and the dicholoromethane.

Solvents used for this experiment were anhydrous sodium sulfate, sodium hydroxide, and

dichloromethane. Sodium hydroxide acted as a base in order for the tannins to not be extracted

while the anhydrous sodium sulfate served as the drying agent to absorb all excess water that may

be present before starting to evaporate the solvent off. Dichloromethane was used to extract

caffeine from an aqueous extract of tea leaves because caffeine is more soluble in this solvent than

it is in water (DeBartolo, 2002). The lower layer was then decanted and transferred to the pre-

weighed evaporating dish where it was evaporated to dryness. The final result was called the crude

caffeine. 0.0767𝑔 of crude caffeine was collected from 6.0805g of tea leaves. A percentage yield

of 1.26 was obtained by multiplying the quotient of the weight of the caffeine and the weight of

the tea leaves to 100%.

Conclusion

A 0.0767g of crude caffeine was obtained from 6.0805g of tea leaves after going through

the whole process of solid-liquid and liquid-liquid extraction, decantation, and evaporation. The

percentage yield can be computed by multiplying the quotient of the weight of the caffeine, or the

dividend, and the weight of the tea leaves, or the divisor, to 100%. The final result was 1.26%.

References

DeBartolo, M. (2002). Extraction of Caffeine from Tea. Retrieved February 13, 2017, from
http://ochemonline.pbworks.com/f/08_caffeine1.pdf
Haley, G.S. (2012). Tea Revives the World. Retrieved February 13, 2017 from
http://www.gshaly.com/resources/teashistory.htm

Heiss, M. (2011). The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide. Retrieved February
13, 2017 from https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=gxCBfNmnvFEC&pg=PT31

Petre, A. (2016). What is Caffeine, and Is It Good or Bad for Health?. Retrieved February 13,
2017 from https://authoritynutrition.com/what-is-caffeine/

Postu, A. (2013). Isolation of Caffeine from Tea Leaves via Acid-Base Liquid-Liquid Extraction.
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