Removal of Caffeine from Green Tea Extract by Macroporous Resin Adsorption

Adsorption and desorption capacities of various macroporous resins to polyphenols(EGCG, ECG) and caffeine in green tea extract were examined in an effort to remove caffeine from it.Results showed that RS-1 resin exhibited the best decoloration effect, and RX-2 resin exhibited strong selective adsorption capacity to caffeine, thereby providing an effective approach for removing caffeine from green tea extract.After the two-step resin separation, the relative contents of EGCG and ECG could reach 74.72% and 17.45% from 49.78% and 11.56%, with the yields of about 78.31% and 83.46%, respectively, and the caffeine content could be reduced to about 0.2%.