Beverages and Flavors

The potable water for the food and beverage industry undergoes a multitude of water treatment programs. Decaffeination of green coffee beans is a major activated carbon application. The selective adsorption of caffeine from aqueous solutions onto the surface of carbonaceous materials can be monitored calorimetrically. Tea and coffee are decaffeinated by supercritical CO₂ using activated carbon to adsorb the caffeine from the processing stream. Activated carbon treatment at low gas pressure is more efficient to remove acetaldehyde, ethyl acetate, ethanol, acetone, and dimethyl sulfide. Certain alcoholic beverages possess off-flavors due to contaminant carbonyl compounds such as aldehydes, ketones, and esters. Fermentation and separation kinetics of in situ ethanol separation by CO₂ stripping and activated carbon adsorption were studied for a continuous free cell fermentation system and immobilized yeast. Cigarettes containing activated carbon fibers in the filter can be impregnated with menthol to give off the constant odor and flavor of menthol upon smoking.