Quality attributes of palm sap-based sugar containing chocolate using alternative processing

Nowadays, the demand for healthier alternative sweeteners and attempt to replace the most common sweetener used in chocolate, sucrose, is increasing. One of the alternatives, claimed to have better health benefits containing minerals and vitamins and exhibiting a low glycemic index (GI), is palm sap-based sugar. In this study, the chocolates were alternatively produced through a combination of Stephan mixing and ball mill refining. In order to gain better understanding, the chocolates was also produced by conventional method employing sequence of mixing, roll refining and conching. Compared to the conventional processing which is very time- and energy-consuming, the alternative processing method requires less time and energy, and additionally can be easily applied for small-scale production. The main objective of this work was to investigate the impact of sucrose replacement by palm sap-based sugars on the quality attributes of dark chocolate, more particularly colour, hardness, fineness, melting profile, flow behaviour and aroma profile. The results show that the physicochemical properties of palm sap-based sugars influenced the chocolate quality attributes to some extent. Compared to the chocolates sweetened with sucrose, palm sap-based sugar containing chocolates produced by means of alternative processing were relatively similar in mouthfeel melting but exhibited a slightly difference in hardness, colour, and mouthfeel viscosity. Furthermore, the outcome of this study shows that palm sap-based sugars have the potential of fully replacing sucrose for the production of high-quality chocolates as whilst imparting a unique aroma and possible health benefits in comparison to standard chocolates.status: publishe

Quality attributes of dark chocolates formulated with palm sap‑based sugar as nutritious and natural alternative sweetener

Consumer demand for healthier alternative sweeteners and attempts to replace the most common sweetener used in chocolate, namely sucrose, continue to increase in recent times. One sucrose alternative that has not been fully explored in chocolate is palm sap-based sugar. This work investigated the impact of sucrose replacement by coconut sugar (CCS1 and CCS2) and palm sugar (CPS1, CPS2 and CPS3) on the quality attributes of dark chocolate, more particularly colour, hardness, flow behaviour and aroma profile. The results showed that chocolates formulated with palm sap-based sugar were lighter in colour and harder than the reference chocolate made with sucrose, which could be attributed to a lower particle density and a higher moisture of palm sap based sugar than that of sucrose. Analysis of the major volatile compounds recorded the presence of 2,3‑dihydro‑3,5‑dihydroxy‑6‑methyl‑4(H)‑pyran‑4‑one (DDMP) and high concentration of pyrazine-based compounds in the palm sap-based sugar sweetened chocolates. The former compound (DDMP) was, however, absent in the sucrose sweetened dark chocolate. The physicochemical properties of the sugars also had a significant effect on the rheological behaviour of the final chocolates with chocolates formulated with coconut sugar recording the highest Casson viscosity. With regard to fat melting, chocolates sweetened with palm sap-based sugar and sucrose exhibited similar melting range temperature. Palm sap-based sugar nevertheless seems to have great potential for dark chocolate applications with additional health benefits