Milk Powder as an Ingredient for the Production of Milk Chocolate

Abstract

Čokolada je visokovrijedna namirnica koja osim osnovnih hranjivih sastojaka sadrži i niz bioaktivnih sastojaka, za koje je dokazan pozitivan učinak na ljudsko zdravlje. Zbog velikog izbora različitih čokoladnih proizvoda na tržištu te sve većih zahtjeva potrošača za kvalitetom proizvoda koje konzumiraju, sve se više pažnje posvećuje unaprjeđenju postupka proizvodnje prehrambenih proizvoda, pa tako i čokolade. Pritom je izrazito važno poznavati svojstva svake sirovine u tehnološkom procesu proizvodnje nekog proizvoda kako bi se moglo očuvati ili zaštiti njegove, potencijalno djelotvorne sastojke. Mlijeko u prahu je osnovni sastojak mliječne čokolade (oko 20% ukupne mase) koji određuje senzorski profi l čokolade (okus, tekstura) i utječe na njezina fizikalno-kemijska i reološka svojstva, posebice svojstva tečenja, koja su vrlo bitna prilikom lijevanja čokoladne mase u kalupe, kao i dražiranja čokoladom. Ranije se za proizvodnju čokolade tradicionalno koristilo punomasno mlijeko u prahu sušeno na valjcima, zbog velikog udjela slobodne mliječne masti, no budući da je danas sušenje na valjcima zastarjeli postupak, sve više se pažnje usmjerava na sušenje mlijeka u prahu raspršivanjem. Međutim, za razliku od sušenja na valjcima, sušenjem raspršivanjem nastaje prah malog udjela slobodne mliječne masti, što je poželjno za proizvodnju gotovo svih vrsta prehrambenih proizvoda, osim čokolade. Ovaj rad pruža pregled uporabe različitih vrsta mlijeka u prahu u proizvodnji mliječne čokolade te njihov utjecaj na reološka, fizikalno-kemijska i senzorska svojstva čokolade.Chocolate is a high nutritive value food product, that beside dietary nutrients, provides a wide array of bioactive constituents, which exhibit positive effects on human health. Due to a great number of various chocolate products available on the market and growing consumer demands regarding their quality, there is an increasing interest in improvement of production processes of food products, hence as well chocolate. At the same time, it is crucial knowing the properties of every ingredient in the production of a product, so that the potentially benefi cal compounds could remain preserved. One of the main ingredients of milk chocolate (constituting about 20% of total weight of chocolate) is milk powder, which determines the sensory profi le of milk chocolate (fl avor, texture) and infl uences their physico-chemical and rheological properties, especially flow poperties, that are important for chocolate molding as well as chocolate coating. Traditionally, for the production of milk chocolate, roller dryed whole milk powder was used, due to its high free milk fat content, but since the use of roller drying for the production of milk powder is decreasing, the attention is directed to spray drying for that purpose. However, in comparison to roller drying, spray dryed milk powder contains a low content of milk fat in the resulting product, which is desirable in the production of almost all food products, except chocolate. This paper provides an overview of the application of various types of milk powders in the production of milk chocolate, as well as their impact on the rheological, physico-chemical and sensory characteristics of chocolate