A bitter-less chocolate-A dream come true?

Who does not like chocolates and chocolate flavored products? Unfortunately its consumption is self limiting because of the high degree of bitter taste associated with pure chocolates. The chocolate that is in the market to day contains only a fraction of the cocoa components and is loaded with sugar and fat to make it smooth and tasty. During the last 2-3 decades tons of research papers have been published proclaiming the health benefits of phytochemical substances like antioxidants in cocoa, creating fresh demand for chocolate products containing more and more cocoa solids and less and less fat and sugar. There are technological constraints in making a good quality chocolate without fat and sugar though the so called bitter chocolate versions boasting of up to 90% cocoa are marketed by some companies, especially in the US and Europe, though they are severely bitter to taste, accepted by many consumers as an avoidable necessity to derive the health benefits of cocoa. Now comes the news about a private initiative to prepare high cocoa content chocolates with practically no bitterness which is a welcome development, if the reports are true. Read further about the emergence of this new avatar of chocolate.   

"According to The Independent, a researchers have announced a "medicinal chocolate"; a variety cuts fat and sugar levels down from an average of 75 per cent to a mere 35 per cent. We have long known the benefits of cacao, a superfood rich in antioxidants. It can lower blood pressure, improve health of the liver, protect the nervous system, reduce risk of a stroke, prevent artery clogging, and even diminish excess appetite. It can often be found in weight loss supplements for this reason. However,it's also incredibly bitter.Most chocolates you buy will balance this out with fat and sugar, which effectively cancels out many of these benefits. Until now. Kuka Xoco, the firm that developed this new chocolate, have used an obscure herb from the Andes as a de-bittering agent. The Independent reports that even a few micrograms of the plant can completely remove the bitterness from large amounts of cacao. Gregory Aharonian, the firm's chief scientist, said this discovery "eliminates the need for sugar, sweeteners and much of the fat in chocolate, unleashing the medical benefits of cacao". He said the company's longer-term goal is to get the fat and sugar levels down to just 10%. By removing the unhealthy aspects of chocolate, it could actually be transformed into a medicine, turning chocolate into a health food industry. If chocolate manufacturers can remove as much fat and sugar as they can, Mr Aharonian believes the chocolate industry could double its profits by becoming a health food industry".

What is not clear in this development is whether use of a de-bittering agent as being reported will have any adverse impact on the healthiness of the product.. After all most anthocyanins which have antioxidant properties are supposed to be bitter to taste and hence this question. Probably the action of the secretive herbal ingredient discovered by the innovators needs to be elucidated further before coming to any conclusion regarding the true potential of this discovery. Enzymes like Naringinase are known to be deployed for debittering of citrus juice commercially but here the processor is not too much concerned about the fate of Naringin decomposed by the enzyme. But in the case of chocolates if debittering using the herb destroys procyanidins and flavanoids present in cocoa, will the resulting final product be as healthy as its original counterpart? Further detailed studies are called for before one talks of commercialization of this technology.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

A SINLESS CHOCOLATE-REALLY POSSIBLE

Amateur innovators can some time throw the traditionally accepted technological truths upside down as reflected by a recent report that some one in the UK has created "chocolate" products with a caloric content of only 20 kC per bar! Can this be really true? When popular media flashes such explosive news, consumers get highly excited! A careful scrutiny of the claim by this chocolate entrepreneur reveals that, unlike the standard chocolates familiar to the consumers, the new product contains high moisture which may not pass the test of identity for chocolates accepted universally. It is fashionable these days for the industry to propagate food products containing less and less of sugar, fat and salt though most such products fail to live up to the billing. The new low calories chocolate also may fall under this category and once commercial production and promotion start, the real problems will emerge. Here is a take on this new development. 

"London-based Aneesh Popat's recipe ditches high-calorie ingredients such as butter, cream and eggs. Instead, 25-year-old Popat, a maths graduate, combines flavour-infused water with cocoa to create The Chocolatier, which contain as little as 20 calories a bar, 'The Daily Express' reported. Popat claims his chocolate is as tasty as sugar-packed rivals and comes in flavours from fizzy cola and strawberry mint to chai tea and apple pie. "If everything in the world was made of chocolate I'd have eaten it by now. My love of chocolate led me to devote and apply my mathematical and scientific backgrounds to create the most unique flavour combinations with utmost precision and creativity," he said. "Chocolate is good for you if made in the right way," he said. Popat's low-fat chocolates are already taking the culinary world by storm. After support from thousands of visitors to his stall at the BBC Good Food Show in Birmingham, he is hoping his chocolate will hit the open market. It is already supplied to Michelin star restaurant Apicius in Cranbrook, Kent, and five star hotel Le Meridien in London".

Reducing sugar and fat are laudable objectives provided the product features are not grossly distorted and the new chocolate products probably will never be universally accepted no matter what health claims are trumpeted. One has to only look at the ice cream industry which has been in business since ages and the basic identity of this yummy product has never been seriously compromised in spite of the fact it is rich in sugar and fat! Of course there are imitative ice cream products like frozen yogurts, gelato etc which probably gives same culinary pleasure, as that given by true ice cream products, for those who want to control the ingestion of sugar and fat. Therefore the new 'chocolate" product, as claimed by the above entrepreneur, can be easily positioned as another chocolate like product and may as well click, provided it has a reasonablu good shelf life.   

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

CHOCOLATE WITH NO FAT?-HOW IS IT POSSIBLE?

Cocoa beans contain very high levels of antioxidants and products derived from this healthy beans are touted as health foods by the industry. However its rich fat content, especially the saturated ones and incorporation of large quantities of sugar make chocolates a prime suspect as a villain against mankind by fomenting many disorders that afflict modern society. It is only during the last few years the chocolate industry has taken pains to reduce at least sugar and increase the cocoa solids, mostly garden dark chocolates or bitter chocolates. However reducing fat is still a challenge because the texture and the typical biting characteristics depend heavily on the fat content. At least that is what has been understood till recently. However this perception is likely to change after the recent discovery that fat in chocolate can be reduced up to 50% by suitable modification of the process and incorporation of fruit juices. Here is a take on this new exciting development.

"We all love chocolate but many of us try to avoid it in the fear of gaining weight. Now, scientists have found a way to replace up to 50 per cent of fat content in chocolate with fruit juice. University of Warwick chemists have taken out much of the cocoa butter and milk fats that go into chocolate bars, substituting them with tiny droplets of juice measuring under 30 microns in diameter. They infused orange and cranberry juice into milk, dark and white chocolate using what is known as a Pickering emulsion. Significantly, the clever chemistry does not take away the chocolatey 'mouth-feel' given by the fatty ingredients. This is because the new technique maintains the prized Polymorph V content, the substance in the crystal structure of the fat which gives chocolate its glossy appearance, firm and snappy texture but which also allows it to melt smoothly in the mouth. The final product will taste fruity – but there is the option to use water and a small amount of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) instead of juice to maintain a chocolatey taste. Study's lead author Dr Stefan Bon from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Warwick said the research looked at the chemistry behind reducing fat in chocolate, but now it was up to the food industry to use this new technique to develop tasty ways to use it in chocolate. "Everyone loves chocolate – but unfortunately we all know that many chocolate bars are high in fat. However it's the fat that gives chocolate all the indulgent sensations that people crave – the silky smooth texture and the way it melts in the mouth but still has a 'snap' to it when you break it with your hand," Dr Bon said. "We've found a way to maintain all of those things that make chocolate 'chocolatey' but with fruit juice instead of fat. "Our study is just the starting point to healthier chocolate – we've established the chemistry behind this new technique but now we're hoping the food industry will take our method to make tasty, lower-fat chocolate bars," he added. The scientists used food-approved ingredients to create a pickering emulsion, which prevents the small droplets from merging with each other".


If the above findings get translated into commercial products in the market, the future of chocolate industry is expected to be bright in the coming years. Interestingly fruit natural juices will sweeten the product to some extent sparing that much added sugar. Sensibly the cocoa powder, a by-product of chocolate industry containing only about 6-10% fat is a much superior health ingredient that can be used in many traditional sweetmeat preparations that can lend rich color and flavor liked universally. Still chocolate has a distinct place of its own in the choice of foods by young as well the old. The attempts like the above one in reducing fat significantly in chocolate products  are indeed welcome.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com