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Caffeine in Coffee - Its Removal. Why and How
Caffeine in Coffee - Its Removal. Why and How
Caffeine in Coffee - Its Removal. Why and How
To cite this article: K. Ramalakshmi & B. Raghavan (1999) Caffeine in Coffee: Its Removal. Why and How?, Critical Reviews in
Food Science and Nutrition, 39:5, 441-456, DOI: 10.1080/10408699991279231
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Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 39(5):441–456 (1999)
Referee: Dr. Donald N. Schenholt, Gillies Coffee Co., P.O. Box 320206, Brooklyn, NY 11232
ABSTRACT: The popularity of coffee as a beverage is ever increasing despite the fact that there are reports
antagonized to its consumption. Of the several factors cited, the alkaloid caffeine present in coffee can cause
addiction and stimulate the central nervous system. It has an effect on the cardiovascular system with a slight
increase in blood pressure and heart output. It undergoes biotransformation in the human body to form methylated
derivatives of uric acid. In recent times, much effort has gone into the research on the removal of caffeine in coffee,
resulting in a specialty product called decaffeinated coffee. Decaffeination methods mainly employ organic
solvents or water or supercritical carbon dioxide. These methods with their attendant advantages and disadvantages
are reviewed in this article.
KEY WORDS: caffeine metabolism, physiological effects, solvent decaffeination, water decaffeination, supercritical
carbon dioxide, decaffeination of coffee.
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441
washing, and drying. The product obtained is II. EFFECTS OF CAFFEINE ON HUMAN
parchment coffee. The processing of green coffee BODY
is summarized in Figure 1.
The initial step in the preparation of any con- A. Composition of Coffee
sumable product from coffee is roasting. The
popularity of coffee as a beverage is due to many The chemical composition of green coffee
factors, such as aroma, taste, therapeutic effect, mainly depends on the variety of the coffee, al-
etc., that develop after roasting. Roasting is an though slight variations are possible due to agro-
operation of exposing the bean to a warming pro- climatic conditions, agricultural practices, and
cess so that bound moisture and the dry bean is processing and storage. The average approximate
heated to more than 200°C. Roasting alters the composition of coffee is given in Table 1.
color, size, and shape of the bean. Many types of
chemical reactions take place during roasting, viz.,
pyrolysis, oxidation, reduction, hydrolysis, poly- B. Caffeine in Coffee
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l
Dehusking
l
Fermentation
l
Polishing, sorting and grading
Washing
l
l
Drying
l
Removal of parchmen t
1
Polishing, sorting and grading
FIGURE 1. Processing of coffee. (Source: Varnam et al. 1994 (Ref. 2). Reproduced with permission.)
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442
TABLE 1 In coffee plants caffeine is synthesized from
Chemical Composition of Coffee xanthosine via 7-methyl xanthosine, 7-methyl
xanthine, and theobromine. S-adenosyl methion-
Component Composition (%)
ine (SAM) is the actual source of the methyl
Reducing sugars 1.0 groups. The caffeine is degraded relatively slowly
Sucrose 7.0 and involves demethylation steps to yield theo-
Pectin 3.0 bromine and theophylline. Theophylline is catabo-
Starch 10.0 lized to xanthine via 3-methyl xanthine. How-
Pentosan 5.0
Hemicellulose 15.0
ever, it is unclear whether 3-methyl xanthine and/or
Holocellulose (fiber) 18.0 7-methyl xanthine are intermediates in the con-
Lignin 2.0 version of theobromine to xanthine.8 Xanthine is
Oils 13.0 metabolized to urea, as shown in Figure 3.
Protein 13.0 Caffeine is moderately soluble in water, yet it
Ash 4.0
is also hydrophobic enough to easily pass through
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C. Caffeine Metabolism
D. Physiological Effects of Caffeine
Chemically, caffeine is a purine derivative
xanthine with methyl substituents attached at For the average consumer the physiological
positions 1, 3, and 7. Reports on the biosynthesis effects of caffeine are very closely associated
and degradation of caffeine in coffee are limited. with drinking coffee. There have been several
Both processes occur more rapidly in immature reports on the phsychological effects of caffeine
than mature fruit. The main biosynthesis route consumption12–17 and its effects in conjunction
utilizes the purine nucleotide for the formation of with the consumption of alcohol and smoking18–22
caffeine, as shown in Figure 2. and drugs.23–24 During the last decade, much at-
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443
o
AMP~ Ay-t
GMP/ I M P - XMP-HÜ1/) 1
~ Ribose
Xanthosine
SAM'\!
SAH~ o
HM)
o
Ay-CH
c:L)C)
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1
1
CH
3
~ Ribose
Caffeine
7- Methyl xanthosine
........~
;
Hh) 1
H
SAM
'-<!
SAH
79% Conversion
7- Methyl xanthine
tention has centered on the development of coro- by Bak and Grobbee.30 After a large-scale study
nary heart diseases. A number of studies have in Norway comprising about 38,000 men and
been focussed to determine the effect of coffee/ women in the 35- to 54-year-old age group,
caffeine on heart diseases.25–27 Rosemarin28 ob- Tverdal31 examined the association between the
served conflicting results from epidemiological number of cups of coffee consumed per day and
studies on coffee and coronary diseases. He sug- deaths from and coronary heart disease when tak-
gested that coffee may induce cardiac arrhythmias, ing other major coronary risk factors into ac-
including potentially lethal ventricular ectopy in count. Mean cholesterol concentrations increased
certain individuals. A decrease in the relative risk from the lowest to highest coffee-consuming
of coronary deaths with coffee consumption was group. The relative risk for men who consumed
found in the Norwegian study,29 wherein coffee less than one cup and those who consumed nine
consumption was correlated with serum choles- or more cups of coffee per day was estimated to
terol levels and blood pressure. The effects of be 2.2. For women, the corresponding relative
coffee on blood pressure and heart rate, using 107 risk was 5.1. Epidemiological studies have shown
normal adults (18 to 33 years old) were reported that the consumption of coffee at an acute level
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444
Xanthosine
SAM'\!
SAH .-:A
H~J-)
~CH
o
c~&5
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1
CH
N ' 3
~ Ribose
Caffeine
7 - Methyl xanthosine
SAHj
100%
SAM Con-.ersion
D-Ribose~
o
HJx> 1
H
7- Methyl xanthine
SAM
~
SAH
79% Conversion
~CH
HJ-?-> 1
CH
3
3,7- Dimethyl xanthine
FIGURE 3
TABLE 2
Factors Modifying Caffeine Elimination in Man
None 5–6 h
Pregnancy 18 h
Oral conceptives 10.7 h
Cigarette smoking 3–4 h
Liver failure Several days
produces a number of short-term responses, in- secretion. The effect of coffee consumption on
cluding an increase in blood pressure, plasma blood lipids, cholesterol, and blood pressure was
renin activity, urine production, and gastric acid investigated by Stensvold et al.29 Bak and his co-
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445
TABLE 3
Caffeine Biotransformation in Some Species
workers32 reported on the effect of coffee on se- of more than one cup of coffee per day was asso-
rum cholesterol, and Van Dusseldorp et al.33 in- ciated with a 50% reduction in conception rate. In
vestigated the effect of decaffeinated vs. regular another study45 an association was found between
coffee on serum lipoproteins. Coffee consump- coffee consumption and delayed conception.
tion has been linked to cancers in many organs,
but currently there appears to be little or no sup-
portive evidence for these contentions. III. DECAFFEINATION
There are many reports of caffeine linking
with cancer of the bladder,34–36 the pancreas,37–39 In man, a fatal dose of caffeine is estimated as
and breast disease.40 The risk of cancer of the 10 g or about 50 to 100 cups of average coffee
colon and the rectum in relation to coffee con- (depending on strength and volume). It can cause
sumption was investigated by Rosenburg et al.,41 excessive influence on the central nervous and
who suggested that coffee consumption was not respiratory systems, characterized by restlessness,
related to an increased risk of large bowel cancer excitement, insomnia, and possibly mild delirium.
and that heavy consumption of coffee might re- People do suffer from sleepiness, nervousness,
duce the risk of colon cancer. The way coffee intestinal discomfort, heart stimulation, and other
interferes with sleep differs considerably from effects after drinking “excessive” amounts of
person to person. There are people who will coffee. “Excessive” can be one cup for some, two
have “sleepless night” even after a cup of cups for others, and three cups for people in gen-
decaffeinated coffee and others who sleep peace- eral. Those who habitually drink coffee require a
fully after a double espresso. Thus, caffeine is a large dose for stimulation. This is because they
behavioral stimulant that produces dose-depen- develop a tolerance to the drink, whereas a non-
dent subjective effects in humans. The effect of coffee drinker will get “stimulating action” from
caffeine on alertness was investigated by even a single cup of coffee. Individual tolerances
Zwyghuizen et al.,42 who observed that caffeine to dosages vary with age, sex, physical condition,
increases daytime alertness and vigilance. An environment, and other factors. Young people
opposite effect of caffeine was reported by usually react negatively to drinking coffee. Middle-
Rogestein,43 describing the cases of six patients aged people find it stimulating and relaxing. Older
who had severe sleepiness apparently induced people find it a useful stimulant, but avoid it due
by caffeine. to negative body reactions.
Several authors have contributed reports at-
tempting to determine whether women who con- A. History of Decaffeination
sume caffeine-containing beverages take longer
to become pregnant than those who abstain from Runge first discovered and isolated caffeine
such drinks. Wilcox44 reported that consumption in the late nineteenth century, and Roselius devel-
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446
oped the first decaffeinating process for coffee in beans with, for example, dichloromethane or ethyl
Germany in 1900.46 In 1912 Roselius founded acetate decaffeination using carbon dioxide and
Kaffee Hag, the original commercial decaffeinated aqueous extraction using a solution of green cof-
coffee. Similar operations were started in the U.S. fee extract or water process.
by Kaffee Hag before World War I, but they were
exported by the U.S. General Foods later bought
out the “Sanka” trademark in 1932, and the pro- B. Solvent Decaffeination
cess for exclusive use in the U.S. Since World
War II, there has been a very significant rise in the Until the mid-1970s, all the decaffeinaton
use of decaffeinated coffee. One reason is that methods used the solvent method only. Over the
with the increased use of robustas possessing years mankind has utilized alkalis, acids, and even
double the caffeine content, consumers pass over tried charging coffee with electricity in an effort
the margin of being comfortable after drinking to decaffeinate it. More often than not, the result-
coffee to being uncomfortable. Interestingly ing beverage tasted decapitated as well as
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enough, decaffeination removes robusta’s harsh- decaffeinated. Benzene, chloroform, ether, alco-
ness (as well as flavor) and irritation leaving a hol, trichloroethylene, carbon tetrachloride, ac-
bland coffee beverage with little flavor, whether etone, ammonium hydroxide, and sulfuric acid
consumed as R&G coffee or instant coffee. have also been used during this century to
Newyork is a Swiss water town for specialty decaffeinate the beans. The solubility of caffeine
coffees. Swiss water was introduced to the Ameri- in various organic solvents is given in Table 4.
can market in Newyork in 1979, and French water Ethyl acetate decaffeination is a process where
decaffeinated coffee was introduced in 1992. The the solvent owes its origin to natural sources.46
use of solvent super critical CO2 for decaffeination There are two basic methods for producing
of coffee, commercialized by HAG-GF in Ger- decaffeinated coffee using solvent, direct solvent
many, is based on the 1970 patent of Kurt Zosel, extraction of the beans and water extraction of the
a scienist at Max Planck Institute, Germany. beans followed by solvent extraction of the caf-
Secrecy has been a policy of almost all coffee feine from the water extract. In green coffee,
bean decaffeinators, so little process data have caffeine is fixed to the chlorogenic acid. In order
been published. Patents have been the major source to separate the caffeine from the chlorogenic acid
of public information. However, process “ know- and to allow the solvent to get access to the caf-
how” has become progressively available as the feine and to enable the latter to escape at the
industry has spread out and more and more com- surface of coffee, the green coffee’s moisture
panies and people have become involved. There should be increased. This can be done by treating
have been numerous process developments in the beans either with super-heated steam or soak-
decaffeination technology, the most important ing followed by steaming.47 In the direct solvent
being solvent extraction of caffeine from prewetted extraction process, green coffee beans are first
TABLE 4
Solubility of Caffeine in Organic Solvents
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447
steamed to increase their moisture content, then escaping into the atmosphere during the solvent
they are treated with solvent to remove most of manufacture, transport, and use, presents a risk and
the caffeine. The beans are next heated to remove this includes decaffeination of coffee.
the residual solvent and excess moisture. In the
indirect method, green beans are steeped in hot
water to dissolve caffeine. Next the water is sepa- 2. Ethyl Acetate
rated from the beans and treated with the solvent
to remove caffeine. Then the flavor ingredients in Although there is no demonstrated hazards to
the water are returned to the beans, which are then human health by way of traces of methylene chlo-
rinsed to wash off trace amount of the chemical. ride residue in decaffeinated coffee, exaggeration
Decaffeinated coffee made by the indirect method of its suspected carcinogenicity has led to a search
does not pose the problem of residual solvent in for a solvent free from toxicity criticism. The
the beans. solvent of choice has become ethyl acetate, a
natural component detected in coffee aroma and
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448
TABLE 5
Decaffeination of Coffee Using Ethyl Acetate
C. Decaffeination with Carbon Dioxide the start up costs of a carbon dioxide decaffeination
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449
to this operation. In the extractor there is a high cial production, with an initial capacity of 4000
ratio of carbon dioxide to water. In the scrubber tons per year. Caffeine has a specific solubility in
the ratio is not so high because extra water is water that varies widely with temperature. At room
added there. The scrubber water preferentially temperature, caffeine dissolves in water at a maxi-
carries away the caffeine. The recirculation is mum solubility of 2%, whereas it can dissolve in
continued for 8 to 12 h, depending on the initial boiling water to make a 70% solution. An addi-
caffeine content of the green beans. The target tional factor in the aqueous extraction is that the
caffeine content for the decaffeinated beans is caffeine is combined with organic acids within
usually 0.08%. If the beans are arabica with only the green bean cells. This must be hydrolyzed by
about 1% caffeine to begin with then the recircu- heat to liberate the free caffeine.
lation time is nearer to 8 h. At the end of recircu-
lation, carbon dioxide is pumped from the system
to a strong tank and is recycled to the next batch. 1. Swiss Water Decaffeination
The beans are unloaded from the extractor for
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drying. At this point they still contain moisture The idea of water decaffeination was origi-
and a trace of carbon dioxide. The subsequent nally thought of by Jean Maclang in 1934, who
drying step reduces the moisture to its original decided to remove caffeine from coffee without
level and vaporizes the carbon dioxide.59 using a chemical solvent. Until the late 1970s,
The advantages of this process are that (1) scientists and engineers at Coffex modified the
there is no harmful residue because carbon diox- process to prevent the removal of the coffee fla-
ide is a safe, nontoxic material that is completely vor with an activated carbon filter and then started
and easily removed from the decaffeinated coffee a chemical decaffeination plant in Switzerland.61
as well as from the aqueous solution of byproduct In the original Swiss water process, green coffee
caffeine, (2) the product is of a superior quality beans were soaked in hot water and caffeine and
with flavor and appearance very close to that of flavor from the green beans dissolved into the
undecaffeinated coffee and superior to the prod- water.62 The water was then circulated through an
ucts obtained from other decaffeination methods, activated carbon filter that removed the caffeine.
and (3) losses of coffee solubles (other than caf- The beans were then removed and transferred to
feine) are quite low, less than other decaffeination a drying tank and the water to an evaporator
methods, resulting in greater product yield. There where it was concentrated. When the beans were
are two major restrictions of carbon dioxide half-dry, the flavor-charged water was sprayed
decaffeination. In developing this process, one back into the beans and the flavor was reabsorbed.
needs to optimize the precise processing param- In the mid 1980s, the procedure was refined at
eters.60 There has to be a great deal of knowledge Coffex North America plant in Vancouver,
in the operation of high-pressure facilities in gen- wherein the flavor-charged caffeine-free water
eral, and there has to be a very good technical was used to remove caffeine from the subsequent
infrastructure for maintenance of the plant. batches of beans.63 After a batch of beans has
Decaffeination plant using carbon dioxide being been processed and the carbon filter removed the
capital intensive is commercially feasible only at caffeine, a new generation of Swiss water
an annual capacity of atleast 3000 tons per year. decaffeination uses this flavor-charged water to
decaffeinate subsequent batches of beans. The
caffeine-free water absorbs the caffeine from the
D. Water Decaffeination new beans, but the flavor components cannot pass
into the already flavor-saturated water. The key to
The “water process” using water for de- Swiss water decaffeination is that the original
caffeination was developed by the Coffex Com- flavor components never leave the bean. So the
pany in 1938 in Switzerland. However, commer- decaffeinated beans retain their original rich, full
cialization of the process was slow; only in the flavor and are 100% chemical free. The various
late 1970s, was coffex able to realize the commer- types of Swiss water coffees available are Colom-
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the consent of the publisher is prohibited.
450
bians, Mochal/Java blends, Kenya AA, Brazil solvent power of nitrous oxide for caffeine when
santos, Strictly Hard bean Guatemalas, and compared with carbon dioxide is higher. The pro-
Sumatra Arabica.64 Although the Swiss water pro- cess of decaffeination using nitrous oxide as a
cess was reported to yield a less tasteful brew than gaseous solvent has to be carried out in the same
other methods of decaffeinated coffees,65 this de- way as any separation process employing a mass
ficiency was overcome during the late 1980s. separation agent in a two-step process, the first of
which is the decaffeination and the second is
the separation of caffeine from the solvent.
2. French Water Decaffeination Decaffeination by this process is carried out using
nitrous oxide at a pressure of 200 bar, with an
Ed. Wakeham, a trader for Cofinco, intro- extraction time of about 10 h corresponding to
duced French water decaffeinated product for the two extraction cycles per day.
first time using ‘french water’, with a pH factor of
seven. French water decaffeination was introduced
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Caffeine is transferred from steamed green There are reports in the literature using mi-
beans to an intermediate from that it is recovered croorganism for decaffeination of coffee. The
by thermal desorption.67 Some of the absorbents microorganism is of Acinetobacter sp. and uses
used are activated charcoal, molecular sieves, silica caffeine as its only source of C and N. The pro-
gels, bentonites, and organic ion-exchange resins. cess involves an aqueous coffee extract that is
incubated with the microorganism under aerobic
conditions until a substantial part of the caffeine
1. Nitrous Oxide is metabolized, after which the cells of the micro-
organism are separated out. The advantage of the
The applicability of nitrous oxide as solvent process is that the product obtained is free from
for caffeine depends on the relatively high solvent the usual solvent residues remaining after con-
power of nitrous oxide for this substance.68 The ventional treatment.75
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451
Aqueous caffeine-containing liquids, for ex- tion specifying the maximum residual amount of
ample, coffee extracts are decaffeianted by either caffeine. In the U.K. and most other European
fermenting the liquid with Pseudomonas micro- countries, the maximum caffeine content for
organisms, Pseudomonas putida NRRL B-8051, decaffeinated roasted coffees is set at 0.1% (dry
P. fluorescens NRRL B-8052, and P. fluorescens basis), although in the U.S. there is no specific
NRRL B.8053 or by contacting the liquid with a legislation, but manufacturers generally claim
caffeine-mobilizing enzyme preparation isolated that more than 97% of the caffeine has been
from the above.76 removed. For de-caffeinated instant coffee, in
European community countries, the maximum
caffeine content is set at 0.3% (dry basis). This
IV. MARKET AND PRICING figure is generally accepted elsewhere in the
world except in the U.S. where a 97% elimina-
Decaffeinated coffee remains a strong and tion figure is usual.
profitable segment of the specialty coffee indus-
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452
Decaffeinated beans roast differently than caffeine. However, the harmful effects of the sol-
natural green beans with less bean expansion, less vent residues have made it imperative to look for
“popping”, etc., because the sucrose content has alternate safer solvents. Ethyl acetate is one such
been altered. Udayasankar et al.81 compared the safe solvent permitted in most countries.
appearance of the green beans decaffeinated by There have been several reports regarding the
both supercritical carbon dioxide and dichloro- use of carbon dioxide as a safe solvent in a
methane, and observed that the appearance of the supercritical extraction system for the de-
beans decaffeinated with the former was like nor- caffeination of coffee. The major advantages of
mal beans except that they were puffed slightly, this solvent are that the extraction can be carried
whereas in case of the latter the beans looked grey out at near ambient temperatures, the solvent does
and shrivelled due to the long hours of steaming not leave any residue, and it selectively extracts
during solventization. The decrease in total soluble caffeine, leaving behind aroma precursors and
solids in decaffeinated beans was due to depletion water solubles such as carbohydrates and protein.
of caffeine, but the higher loss of soluble solids Roasting characteristics, namely, density,
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found in dichloromethane decaffeinated coffee swelling ratio, and breaking strength, play an
beans may be due to leaching during steaming to important role in determining the quality of
remove the solvent residue in the beans. The color decaffeinted coffee. While the swelling ratio of
and the appearance of the roasted decaffeinated decaffeinated coffee was comparable to the
coffees were observed to be similar irrespective caffeinted coffee, the breaking strength was more
of the method of decaffeination. From Table 6 it in decaffeinted coffee ranging from 17.70 to 9.95
can be concluded that there is decrease in petro- lb/in, for light to dark roasts. The cup quality of
leum ether extract in the case of solvent-extracted decaffeinated coffee is very much dependent on
beans, but it is very less in supercritical-extracted the degree of roasting; the color of roasted beans
coffee beans. has to be much darker compared with caffeinated
coffee to get a brew of matching cup quality.
Further, the quality of roasted and ground
VI. CONCLUSION decaffeinated coffee required is also more, almost
1.5 times the caffeinated coffee. This is quite
Caffeine, the alkaloid present in coffee, is not understandable considering the fact that the total
tolerated by some people. This necessitates the soluble solids in the decaffeinated coffee are much
demand for decaffeinated coffee. Because the lesser compared with caffeinated coffee.
robusta variety of coffee is rated inferior in aroma From the foregoing facts encompassing physi-
quality and fetches less price to the producer, it ological effects of coffee, it is not possible to
could be used as the starting material for the flatly say that coffee consumption is healthy or
purpose of decaffeination. Earlier methods made unhealthy. However, with the increasing aware-
use of chlorinated solvents for the extraction of ness and health consciousness, the market for
TABLE 6
Proximate Analysis of Decaffeinated Roasted and Ground Coffee
a Noncaffeine N × 6.25
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453
decaffeinated coffee may expand in the years to 1981; 34(10): 2291–2294; Biol. Abstr., 1982, 73,
come. 72533.
16. Estler, C. J., Caffeine Handbook Exp. Pharmacol., 55
(Psychotrophic Agents, Part 3), 1982; 369-389; Chem.
Abstr., 1982, 96, 115281s.
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