Biotransformation of Caffeine to Value Added Products

Patra, Sanjukta (2007) Biotransformation of Caffeine to Value Added Products. PhD thesis, University of Mysore.

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Abstract

Caffeine is a naturally occurring molecule belonging to the xanthine alkaloid family and is present in tea, coffee over 60 other plant species. It is also available as a by-product of decaffeination process, coffee and tea processing wastes and by chemical synthesis. The world production of coffee is 6.795 million tons and the world decaffeinated coffee market is about 15% of the total coffee market. About 2 lakh tons of caffeine is generated per year from decaffeination of tea and coffee. Besides this, lots of caffeine is available from unutilized coffee processing wastes such as coffee pulp and hull. Every ton of coffee, when processed, generates 40% processing wastes in the form of coffee pulp and coffee hull. These processing wastes contain caffeine ranging from 1.1-2.2%, which can be extracted efficiently and used as substrates for useful biotransformation where caffeine is converted into potent therapeutic molecules leading to value addition. Biotransformation of caffeine and bioconversion of the wastes to safe products is an effective solution to the above problems. Caffeine extracted from these wastes can be biotransformed by using suitable caffeine biotransforming microbial cultures to valuable methyl xanthines such as theophylline, theobromine and paraxanthine, which are potent therapeutic molecules. Production of theophylline by biotransformation of caffeine will obviate the disadvantages of chemically synthesized theophylline and lead to utilization of abundantly available caffeine and value addition. The processing wastes of caffeine such as coffee pulp and coffee hull are considered as major agro-industrial wastes, as they are associated with several anti-physiological and inhibitory factors like high content of caffeine, tannins and polyphenols. Efficient methods of utilization or disposal of these wastes are still not available and are therefore disposed by the processing units and left unused, causing pollution of the nearby water bodies and soil. Effective utilization of these processing wastes is required not only to save the environment, but also utilize it for the benefit of the producers, which would generate revenues in the lean season and generate extra employment. Further, microbial cultures can also be used for the decaffeination of the processing wastes and their efficient utilization. The removal or minimization of the anti nutritional factors in these processing wastes makes them suitable to have alternative applications in animal feed, organic fertilizer, as a substrate in solid state fermentation, biogas production, edible mushroom production and vermiculture. Work reported in the thesis involves the isolation, screening and characterization of caffeine utilizing fungal cultures. The most potent fungal culture, which could biotransform caffeine to theophylline, was characterized as Penicillium citrinum and used for the production of theophylline. The caffeine biotransformation pathway of P. citrinum was elucidated and the enzymes responsible for biotransformation of caffeine were identified. Optimization of parameters for caffeine biotransformation by the selected microorganism was done. Work was also carried out towards the efficient utilization of coffee processing wastes and spent coffee. Proposed objectives of the thesis: 1. Isolation, screening and characterization of microbial cultures for biotransformation. 2. Identification and characterization of biotransformed products. 3. Studies on the enzymes involved in the biotransformation of caffeine. 4. Optimization of parameters for growth and caffeine biotransformation by selected microorganism. 5. Utilization of coffee processing wastes and spent coffee.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	biotransformation caffeine value added products
Subjects:	600 Technology > 07 Beverage Technology > 04 Coffee 600 Technology > 05 Chemical engineering > 01 Biotechnology and Bioengineering
Divisions:	Fermentation Technology and Bioengineering
Depositing User:	Food Sci. & Technol. Information Services
Date Deposited:	06 Jun 2008 05:46
Last Modified:	28 Dec 2011 09:34
URI:	http://ir.cftri.res.in/id/eprint/1742

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