African Journal of
Food Science

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Food Sci.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1996-0794
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJFS
  • Start Year: 2007
  • Published Articles: 972

Article in Press

Omega 3 fatty acid fortified functional chocolate

Madhavi Baskaran and Rita Narayanan

  •  Accepted: 18 July 2016
This study was carried out to produce functional chocolate. Plain milk chocolate (PMC) was prepared as control sample and 2 sets of omega 3 enriched chocolate were prepared viz., 5% ALA – X - MC, 10% ALA - X – MC (alpha linolenic acid -xylitol -milk chocolate.) The omega 3 source for chocolate production was alpha linolenic acid (ALA oil) from flax seed. The chocolates were made with the above combinations following the techniques adapted in UGent Cocoa Lab, Ghent University, Belgium. The thermal behavior of cocoa butter and omega 3 oil blends were analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry. Solid state of fat in each blend (SFC) steadily decreased when the blend was subjected to rising temperatures of 5 to 35°C. Highly significant difference (P < 0.01) was observed between SFC content of each blend at varying temperature gradients. The microstructure study using Polarised Light Microscope revealed that crystal size of omega 3 oils was found to exhibit increasing trend with an increase in the inclusion level of ALA oils. It was determined that 5% and 10% inclusion levels were identified to be suitable for chocolate making. Out of 19% of cocoa butter component in chocolate formulation, 5% replacement with ALA was highly accepted by sensory panelist.

Keywords: Omega 3 chocolate, alpha linolenic acid, functional chocolate, fortified chocolate, xylitol milk chocolate.