UK: New low fat chocolate courtesy of fruit juice
The new concoction is said to taste fruity, but to retain most of its chocolaty character.
Lead author Stefan Bon and colleagues removed much of the cocoa butter and milk fats that normally go into chocolate bars, substituting them with droplets of orange and cranberry juice less than 30 microns in diameter. The juice droplets were infused into three types of chocolate: milk, dark and white.
"Everyone loves chocolate – but unfortunately we all know that many chocolate bars are high in fat," Bon said in a press release. "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."
Bon said the new chocolate kept all of these qualities because the crystalline structure of the fat was preserved. The authors also say that the chocolate can be made to taste less fruity by substituting water and small quantities of ascorbic acid instead of fruit juice.
It remains to be seen whether or not the new method will end up being used for commercial chocolate production.
"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," Bon said.
Source: latimes.com
