Dandelion coffee Dandelion coffee Dandelion 'coffee' (also dandelion tea) is herbal tea used as a coffee substitute, made from the root of the dandelion plant. The roasted dandelion root pieces and the beverage have some resemblance to coffee in appearance and taste. Susanna Moodie explained how to prepare dandelion 'coffee' in her memoir of living in Canada, "Roughing it in the Bush" (1852), where she mentions that she had heard of it from an article published in the 1830s in "New York Albion" by a certain Dr. Harrison. Dandelion 'coffee' was later mentioned in a "Harpers New Monthly Magazine" story in 1886.
Taraxacum officinale be obtained from the flowers but little color can be obtained from the roots of the plant. "Taraxacum" is derived from the Arabic word ‘tarakhshagog’ (or 'tarakhshaqūn') for a bitter herb. It may be related to the Greek word ταρασσω (tarasso) meaning to disturb. "Officinale" means 'of the apothecaries' or 'medicinal'. Taraxalisin is a serine proteinase found in the latex of dandelion roots. Rudenskaya et al. (1998) found that taraxalisin hydrolyzes a chromogenic peptide substrate Glp-Ala-Ala-Leu-pNA optimally at pH 8.0. Maximal activity of the proteinase in the roots is attained in April, at the beginning of plant development after the