MAHARISHI SCHOOL OF

EXCELLENCE
SENIOR SECONDARY

CHEMISTRY
INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT
2023 – 2024

TOPIC: Determination of Caffeine in

Tea samples

NAME: M.V.Varshitha
CLASS: IX – A
 ROLL NO. : 11030

CONTENT

1. INTRODUCTION
2. THEORY
3. MATERIALS REQUIRED
4. PROCEDURE
5. OBSERVATION TABLE
6. RESULT
7. PRECAUTION
8. CONCLUSION
 INTRODUCTION
Tea is the commonly and widely used soft beverage
in the household. Its acts as a stimulant for CNS and
skeletal muscles. That is why tea removes fatigue,
tiredness,and headache. It also increases the capacity
of thinking. It is also used for lowering the body
temperature.
The principle constituent of Tea ,which is
Responsible for all these properties, is the alkaloid-
Caffeine. The amount of caffeine in tea leaves varies
From sample to sample.
Studies have found that the caffeine contents of
1kg black tea ranged from 22-28 mg while in green
tea ranges from 11-22 mg reflecting a significant
difference between the two.
 THEORY

The most important methylated alkaloid that

Occurs naturally is caffeine.
Its molecular formula is: C8H10N4O2
IUPAC name : 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine
Molecular weight : 194.19 g/mol
Melting point : 460 degree F
Boiling point : 352 degree F
 Appears as odorless white powder or
whiteGlistening needles.
Its taste is bitter.
Solution in water are neutral to litmus.
When heated to decomposition,it emits
fumes of the nitrogen oxides.
Molecular structure:
MATERIAL REQUIRED

 Green Label Tea

 Yellow Label Tea
 Red Label Tea
 Lead acetate
 Chloroform
 Beakers
 Glass rod
 Filter paper
 Funnel
 Water
 PROCEDURE
 First of all, 50grams of tea leaves were taken as sample
and 150ml of water was added to it in a beaker.
 Then the beaker was heated up to extreme boiling.
 The solution was filtered and lead acetate was added to the
filtrater,leading to a formation of a curdy brown coloured
precipitate.
 We kept on adding lead acetate till no more precipitate has
been formed.
 Again solution was filtered.
 Now the filtrate so obtained was heated until it had become
50ml.
 Then the solution left was allowed to cool.
 After that, 20 ml of chloroform was added to it.
 Soon After, two layers appeared in the separating funnel.
 The residue left behind was caffeine.
 Then we weighed it and recorded the observations.
 Similar procedure was performed with different samples of
tea leaves and quantity of caffeine was observed in them.
OBSERVATION
TABLE

TEA RED YELLOW GREEN

SAMPLES LABEL LABEL LABEL
Weight of
China dish
Weight of
China dish
with
precipitate
Amount of
Caffeine
 RESULT
Experimentally we found out that:-
i. 50 gm of Red Label Tea has 600 mg amount of
Caffeine present in it.
ii. 50 gm of Yellow Label Tea has 550mg amount of
Caffeine present in it.
iii. 50 gm of Green Label Tea has 450mg amount of
Caffeine present in it.

Hence,
Order of quantities of Caffeine in different samples
of tea are:-
Red label > Yellow label > Green label
 PRECAUTION

1. Chloroform should not be inhaled

directly for a larger period of time.

2. Test tubes and glass apparatus should

be handled with care.
3.Care must be taken which heating the
samples.

4.Reading must be taken accurately.

5.There should not be any error in the

apparatus.
 CONCLUSION
The content of caffeine varies depending
on tea type, which is directly attributed to their
processing and leaf maturity. White tea,made from the
youngest tea leaves contained the highest caffeine
content,and mate and roasted mate tea, the lowest.
The spectrophotometric micro method proved to be
the best alternative for the determination of caffeine
content , exhibiting the most similar results to the
HPLC analysis. According to the obtained results, all
studied teas exhibited high antioxidant capacity, as
opposed to caffeine ,indicating that the contribution of
caffeine to the antioxidant properties of these
beverage is irrelevant.