Peer-reviewedStrength · strongPaywalledAdded
A naturally decaffeinated arabica coffee
Maria B. Silvarolla, Paulo Mazzafera, Luiz C. Fazuoli · Nature 429:826 · 2004 · nature.com
The paper describing naturally caffeine-deficient arabica plants found in an Ethiopian germplasm collection in Brazil. The origin of the idea that a coffee plant could be decaf without processing.
How much weight this carries
Well established. Safe to rely on as stated.
What it says
- Naturally caffeine-deficient arabica exists and the trait is heritable
What it does not say
- It does not describe a commercially available coffee. Two decades on, these plants have not produced a bag you can buy, and citing the paper as if they had is the standard misuse.
- Low-caffeine is not decaffeinated. The trait reduces caffeine; it does not approach the 99% reduction a decaffeination process achieves.
Recorded because the errors in this subject all point one way: toward claims more confident and more flattering to decaf than the evidence supports.
Cited on
Related sources
- Caffeine content of Coffea arabica var. laurina Peer-reviewed · Phytochemistry 49(6)