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EFFECTS OF CONCHING TIME AND INGREDIENTS ON PREFERENCE OF MILK CHOCOLATE M. PRAWIRA and S.A. BARRINGER 1 Department of Food Science and Technology The Ohio State University Columbus, OH Accepted for Publication May 21, 2008 ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to determine how the conching time and the quantity of sucrose, lecithin, cocoa butter and whole milk powder affect consumer preference for milk chocolate. Untrained panelists performed a sensory study consisting of acceptability, preference and attribute intensity. Longer conching time produced significantly smoother chocolate with smaller particle size. The longest conche times had the smallest particle size and were the most mouthcoating. There was no change in flavor with conching. The longer conche times were preferred. Panelists preferred higher sucrose levels, and increasing sucrose decreased bitterness and increased chocolate flavor. Increasing lecithin increased smoothness, but less lecithin was preferred, possibly due to off-flavors at high levels of lecithin. Increasing cocoa butter yielded softer chocolate but did not affect bitterness. Panelists preferred 10% over higher levels of cocoa butter. More milk powder produced smoother chocolate with more caramel flavor and was preferred. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The perceived quality of milk chocolate is affected by conching time, sucrose, lecithin, cocoa butter and whole milk powder. Texture was affected the most by conching, milk powder, lecithin and cocoa butter. Flavor was affected the most by milk powder and sugar. The only variable that did not affect acceptability and preference of milk chocolate was time for under- conched samples. While this study did not determine the optimum conditions for milk chocolate, the most preferred and/or acceptable samples were 1 Corresponding author. Department of Food Science and Technology, The Ohio State University, 2015 Fyffe Road, Columbus 43210, OH. TEL: 614-688-3642; FAX: 614-292-0218; EMAIL: [email protected] Journal of Food Processing and Preservation 33 (2009) 571–589. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-4549.2008.00272.x 571 © 2009 The Author(s) Journal compilation © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Page 1: EFFECTS OF CONCHING TIME AND INGREDIENTS ON PREFERENCE … · EFFECTS OF CONCHING TIME AND INGREDIENTS ON PREFERENCE OF MILK CHOCOLATE ... whole milk powder (All Ameri-can Dairy

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EFFECTS OF CONCHING TIME AND INGREDIENTS ONPREFERENCE OF MILK CHOCOLATE

M. PRAWIRA and S.A. BARRINGER1

Department of Food Science and TechnologyThe Ohio State University

Columbus, OH

Accepted for Publication May 21, 2008

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study is to determine how the conching time andthe quantity of sucrose, lecithin, cocoa butter and whole milk powder affectconsumer preference for milk chocolate. Untrained panelists performed asensory study consisting of acceptability, preference and attribute intensity.Longer conching time produced significantly smoother chocolate with smallerparticle size. The longest conche times had the smallest particle size and werethe most mouthcoating. There was no change in flavor with conching. Thelonger conche times were preferred. Panelists preferred higher sucrose levels,and increasing sucrose decreased bitterness and increased chocolate flavor.Increasing lecithin increased smoothness, but less lecithin was preferred,possibly due to off-flavors at high levels of lecithin. Increasing cocoa butteryielded softer chocolate but did not affect bitterness. Panelists preferred 10%over higher levels of cocoa butter. More milk powder produced smootherchocolate with more caramel flavor and was preferred.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

The perceived quality of milk chocolate is affected by conching time,sucrose, lecithin, cocoa butter and whole milk powder. Texture was affectedthe most by conching, milk powder, lecithin and cocoa butter. Flavor wasaffected the most by milk powder and sugar. The only variable that did notaffect acceptability and preference of milk chocolate was time for under-conched samples. While this study did not determine the optimum conditionsfor milk chocolate, the most preferred and/or acceptable samples were

1 Corresponding author. Department of Food Science and Technology, The Ohio State University,2015 Fyffe Road, Columbus 43210, OH. TEL: 614-688-3642; FAX: 614-292-0218; EMAIL:[email protected]

Journal of Food Processing and Preservation 33 (2009) 571–589.DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-4549.2008.00272.x 571© 2009 The Author(s)Journal compilation © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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conched for at least 12 h, had 35 to 50% sucrose, 0–0.5% lecithin, 5–10%cocoa butter and 13–30% milk powder.

INTRODUCTION

Consumer preference is crucial in determining the success of a product inthe market, including chocolate. Chocolate is consumed more as an indulgencerather than need; therefore, it is important to know which attributes andparameters drive consumer liking of chocolate.

Conching is a mixing step that involves volatilization of fatty acids andaldehydes and development of smooth texture. Volatilization reduces the bit-terness of the chocolate and develops the typical chocolate flavor. The solidparticles such as sugar, nonfat cocoa and milk powder are coated with fat,dissociated by friction and become rounded. The coating of particles by fatpromotes the smooth texture and snap desired in chocolate.

Sucrose is added to promote sweetness in chocolate but also affects otherflavors. Increased level of sucrose results in a decreased level of bitterness(Guinard and Mazzucchelli 1999). More sucrose creates a more intense choco-late flavor perception in chocolate puddings (Geiselman et al. 1998).

Lecithin is an emulsifier that is commonly added in chocolate. It is addedat approximately 0.5% to reduce the viscosity during processing, increasingthe efficiency of conching. The addition of lecithin reduces the amount ofcocoa butter needed to achieve the desired texture. Thus, addition of lecithincan reduce the production cost. Addition of 0.3% lecithin reduces chocolateviscosity and increases chocolate’s tolerance to moisture (Afoakwa et al.2007). However, too much lecithin causes off-flavors and increases the vis-cosity of chocolate. Above 0.5% lecithin, yield value and viscosity increases(Chevalley 1994; Rector 2000).

Cocoa butter is added to give smooth texture in chocolate. Increasing fatcontent is related to a richer mouthfeel, faster melting rate and thus, smootherchocolate (Talbot 2005). The addition of cocoa butter coats the bitter com-pounds, and thus bitterness level decreases as the level of cocoa butterincreases (Guinard and Mazzucchelli 1999). Cocoa butter is solid at roomtemperature and liquid at mouth temperature. This enables maximum releaseof chocolate flavor during consumption.

Milk powder is added for milky and caramel flavor in chocolate. Thecaramel flavor in dairy products is caused by caramelization of sugars andStrecker degradation of casein in milk (Patton 1955). The addition of milk fatreduces the hardness of chocolate since it dilutes the cocoa butter, and thusincreases the amount of the liquid phase (Full et al. 1996). Both instrumentaland sensory evaluation of the hardness of milk chocolates decreased with

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increasing milk fat content (Bolenz et al. 2003). This study was done toinvestigate the effects of conching time and adding different amounts ofsucrose, lecithin, cocoa butter and milk powder on acceptability, preferenceand attribute intensity of milk chocolate.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Materials and Methods

A monolayer of approximately 1,000 g of cocoa beans (Conacado,Dominican Republic) was roasted using a convection oven (Doyon JA 14, Inc.,Saint Come de Kennebec, Quebec, Canada) at 149C for 10 min. The beanswere cracked (Crankandstein Cocoa Mill, Chocolate Alchemy, Yoncalla, OR)and winnowed. Granulated sucrose was refined using a blender for 2 min toreduce the particle size to 180 mm. The rest of the ingredients: granulatedlecithin (Soy, Chocolate Alchemy), cocoa butter (Natural, Dominican Repub-lic, Organic and Fair Trade Certified, Chocolate Alchemy), vanilla (BeanillaTrading Company, Holt, MI) and spray-dried whole milk powder (All Ameri-can Dairy Products, Inc., Malvern, PA) were weighed. The nibs were groundusing a grinder (The Champion Juicer, Plastaket Manufacturing Corp., Inc.,Lodi, CA).

Each batch was 1,000 g to accommodate sufficient volume for conchingand sensory evaluation. The preheated chocolate liquor and cocoa butter werepoured into the conching equipment (Alchemist’s Stone Chocolate Melanger,Santha, Chocolate Alchemy). The powdered ingredients – lecithin, sucrose,vanilla and milk powder – were put into the microwave for 3 min to preheatthem, and then mixed thoroughly. The powdered ingredients were pouredslowly into the conching equipment, letting the dry ingredients incorporatebefore adding more ingredients. After the conching process was done, thechocolate was transferred into the tempering machine (Revolution 2, Choco-vision Corp., Poughkeepsie, NY). The finished chocolate product was pouredinto molds and shaken for approximately 2–3 min. The mold was159 ¥ 72 ¥ 6 mm polycarbonate that holds 113 g of chocolate and can bebroken into 28 squares. The molded chocolate was immediately put into arefrigerator at 5C. The chocolate was allowed to solidify and taken out to sit atroom temperature overnight before sensory evaluation tests.

The basic control utilized 0.5% lecithin, 16% cocoa butter, 13% milkpowder, 26% cocoa liquor, 44.3% sucrose, 0.2% vanilla and 21 h conchingtime. The fat content is equal to the cocoa butter plus 55% of the cocoa liquor(Carver and Meylan 1970) and 26% of the whole milk powder (Fitzpatricket al. 2004). As each variable was adjusted, the other ingredients were kept in

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the same proportion to each other. Table 1 shows the ingredient formulationfor each set. The sets tested were short conching time (3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 h),longer conching time (8, 12, 21 and 76 h), sucrose level (30, 35, 40, 44.3 and50%), lecithin content (0, 0.5, 1 and 2%), cocoa butter content (5, 10, 16 and20%) and milk powder content (5, 10, 13, 20 and 30%).

The particle size of the powders was measured using a Malvern ParticleSize analyzer X (Malvern, Westborough, MA). Three replicates were per-formed and the average mean diameter over the volume distribution, D[4,3],was reported. The particle size of the chocolates was measured using amicrometer (Dignimatic Outside Micrometer, Mitutoyo, Japan). Micrometerreadings correspond to the 90th percentile of the volume diameter of

TABLE 1.INGREDIENT FORMULATION

Set no. Fatcontent(%)

Sugar (%) Lecithin(%)

Cocoabutter(%)

Milkpowder(%)

Cocoaliquor(%)

Vanilla(%)

Conchingtime (h)

1 33.7 44.3 0.500 16.0 13.0 26.0 0.200 8122176

2 33.7 44.3 0.500 16.0 13.0 26.0 0.200 34567

3 39.3 30.0 0.583 18.7 15.2 30.3 0.233 2137.1 35.0 0.551 17.6 14.3 28.7 0.22135.2 40.0 0.522 16.7 13.6 27.2 0.20933.7 44.3 0.500 16.0 13.0 26.0 0.200031.9 50.0 0.473 15.1 12.3 24.6 0.1892

4 33.8 44.5 0.000 16.1 13.1 26.1 0.201 2133.7 44.3 0.500 16.0 13.0 26.0 0.20033.5 44.1 1.000 15.9 12.9 25.9 0.199033.2 43.6 2.000 15.8 12.8 25.6 0.1970

5 24.5 49.8 0.562 5.00 14.6 28.6 0.225 2128.7 47.1 0.532 10.0 13.6 27.7 0.21333.8 44.75 0.505 16.0 12.9 26.3 0.20237.0 41.8 0.472 20.0 12.5 25.0 0.1923

6 34.2 48.2 0.543 17.4 5.00 28.3 0.217 2133.8 45.7 0.515 16.5 10.0 26.8 0.20633.1 43.4 0.490 15.7 13.0 25.5 0.19633.5 40.68 0.467 15.0 20.0 24.3 0.18733.5 37.9 0.427 13.7 30.0 21.9 0.1709

The numbers in bold represent the control value and the gray cells represent the variables tested. Theingredients not being tested remain in the same proportions to each other in all tests.

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chocolate, as measured by laser light scattering (Ziegler et al. 2001). Thefinished chocolate samples were melted using a microwave for approximately2 min and stirred. A small amount of the liquid chocolate was placed in the jawof the micrometer and the diameter was recorded. Two replicates were per-formed and the average diameter was recorded.

Sensory Experimental Design

The sensory tests were conducted at The Ohio State University Depart-ment of Food Science and Technology sensory booths. Each booth was well-lighted, climate controlled and odor-free. The 50 panelists were given thesamples, sensory ballot and a glass of spring water (Naturally Preferred PureMountain Spring Water, Cincinnati, OH) for palate cleansing in betweensamples. Panelists were recruited through email invitations, personal commu-nications and board advertisement.

One variable was tested on each day. Samples were blind-labeled withthree-digit codes to avoid bias, and sample order was randomized so that eachsample appeared in each position the same number of times to avoid artifactsbecause of the order of presentation (Lawless 1998). The randomization ofsample order was divided into five groups, i.e., the first 10 people wereassigned to the first group and so on. Panelists were presented with 4–5samples per day to avoid fatigue and saturation. Each panelist was given foursmall pieces of chocolate (1.9 ¥ 2.5 cm each) per sample number. The sampleswere placed in 59-mL plastic cups with lids (GFS Plastic Portion Cup Lids,Gordon Food Service, Grand Rapids, MI).

Panelists were asked two screening questions before each test started:gender and preference for type of chocolate. Panels averaged 46% males.There were three different parts of the sensory questionnaire: 9-point hedonicscale, ranking and attribute-by-attribute evaluation. For the 9-point hedonicscale, panelists were asked to rate each sample from dislike extremely to likeextremely. The second part was ranking the samples from 1 being the best and4 or 5 (depending on the number of samples), being the worst. The last partof the questionnaire was the attribute-by-attribute evaluation. Panelists had torate each sample according to the attribute given from none (equal to 1), tomoderate to very (equal to 9).

Statistical Analysis

Analysis of variance was utilized to evaluate whether the samples weresignificantly different from each other. Tukey’s honestly significant differencetest was carried out if the variables were significantly different from each other(P value � 0.05) to determine which of the variables were different. Tukey’shonestly significant different test was chosen because of its conservative char-acteristics (O’Mahony 1986).

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For statistical analysis of data, each variable tested was evaluated utiliz-ing all data, female-only data, male-only data and panelists that preferred milkchocolate. In most cases, all of the data sets produced the same results. Onlyfor lecithin, which had 50% female panelists, did female-only data producedifferent results.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Conching Time: Underconched Versus Conched forthe Recommended Time

The underconched chocolate samples were not conched as long as isrecommended, which is 10–14 h (Nanci 2007). Longer conching time resultsin smoother chocolate with smaller particle size. A few commercial chocolatesare considered to be underconched. The underconched chocolate samples wereconched for 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 h. The chocolate conched for 7 h was rated assignificantly smoother than the chocolate conched for 3 or 4 h (Fig. 1). During

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FIG. 1. SMOOTHNESS AND CHOCOLATE FLAVOR FOR UNDERCONCHED SAMPLESAFTER 3, 4, 5, 6 AND 7 H OF CONCHING

Samples with different letters are significantly different.

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conching, the solid particles such as sugar, nonfat cocoa and milk powder arecoated with fat, therefore, too short of a conching time does not allow all of thesolid particles to be covered with fat (Mentink and Serpelloni 1994). Themeasured particle sizes of 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 h were 69.5, 49.5, 45, 38.5 and32.5 mm, respectively (Fig. 2). According to the particle size, all of the under-conched samples should be gritty since the particle size of the solids was notreduced to the ideal size of less than 20 mm where the tongue can no longerdetect them (Afoakwa et al. 2007). During conching, solid particles areground, disassociated by friction and become rounded, (Mentink and Serpel-loni 1994) thus the particle size of the solid particles in the chocolate issteadily reduced (El-Deep et al. 2000). As particle size is reduced, the textureof the chocolate becomes smoother (Liang and Hartel 2004).

In the longer conching time set (8, 12, 21 and 76 h), panelists similarlyrated the samples with the longer conching time, 12 to 76 h, as significantlysmoother (Fig. 3). Based on the particle size, at 8 h conching time, panelistsshould still be able to detect the grittiness while at the longer times, theyshould no longer be able to detect grittiness, since the particle size had

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decreased below 20 mm. The samples conched for 12 h and longer wereconched for an acceptable conching time, and thus the textures of thosesamples should not be perceived as gritty.

Mouthcoating is the afterfeel, or film covering the mouth surfaces(Guinard and Mazzucchelli 1999). Chocolate conched longer develops asmoother texture; however, it can also develop a greasy or oily mouthfeel.Conching times of 21 and 76 h were rated as more mouthcoating than 8 hconching time (Fig. 3). At a particle size of less than 2 mm, the chocolatedevelops a greasy texture (Liang and Hartel 2004). Both 21 and 76 h hadparticle size of �2 mm, and thus a greasy texture may have developed thatpanelists perceived as mouthcoating.

The chocolate flavor for the underconched samples (3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 h)was not affected by conche time (Fig. 1). Panelists also did not detect asignificant difference in chocolate flavor in the longer (8 to 72 h) conchingtime set (Fig. 3).

There was no significant difference in either acceptability or preferencefor the underconched samples (Fig. 4). With shorter conching time (3, 4, 5, 6and 7 h), the conching process is not sufficient for the fat to cover the solid

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FIG. 3. INTENSITY RATING FOR SMOOTHNESS, CHOCOLATE FLAVOR ANDMOUTHCOATING AFTER 8, 12, 21 AND 76 H OF CONCHING

Samples with different letters are significantly different.

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particles in the chocolate; and the particle size is large, causing all of them tobe gritty. In addition, there was no significant difference in chocolate flavor(Fig. 1). So while the longest conche time was smoother in this set, this did nottranslate into a difference in preference. Maniere and Dimick (1979) found nosignificant change in flavor acceptability during the first 12 h of conching fordark chocolate.

After 8, 12, 21 and 76 h of conching, there was no significant differencein acceptability; however, there was a significant difference in preference(Fig. 5). Panelists ranked the longer conching time samples, 21 and 76 h,significantly better than the shortest conching time. Samples conched for 21and 76 h may have been ranked significantly better than 8 h conching timesince they were significantly smoother and had the smallest particle size. Therewas no difference in ranking between 12, 21 and 76 h, and similarly Maniereand Dimick (1979) found no difference in preference between 24 and 44 h fordark chocolate. Conched chocolate samples should have stronger chocolateflavor than unconched samples; however, Maniere and Dimick (1979) onlyfound differences in acceptability between 0 and 24 or 44 h conche times. At20 and 24 h, the samples have a moderate chocolate flavor compared to 0 h thathas only basic chocolate notes (Maniere and Dimick 1979).

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FIG. 4. ACCEPTABILITY AND RANKING FOR UNDERCONCHED CHOCOLATE AT3, 4, 5, 6 AND 7 H OF CONCHING

Samples with different letters are significantly different.

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Sucrose

Commercial milk chocolate has a sugar content of 43 to 58%, while thesamples in this study were 30 to 50% sucrose. The main purpose of addingsucrose is to add sweetness. However, increasing sucrose content is alsorelated to a stronger flavor perception in chocolate pudding (Geiselman et al.1998) and chewing gum (Davidson et al. 1999). Thus, increasing sucrosecontent should be related to a stronger chocolate flavor. In this study, thechocolate flavor was rated significantly different with increasing sucrosecontent (Fig. 6). The chocolate with 40% sucrose was significantly higher inchocolate flavor than 30% sucrose despite containing less cocoa liquor(Table 1).

The bitterness attribute was also significantly affected by sucrose levels(Fig. 6). Panelists rated 30% sucrose significantly bitterer than 44.3 and 50%sucrose. Milk chocolates with lower sucrose were also rated as more bitter thansamples with higher sucrose by a trained panel (Guinard and Mazzucchelli1999). Increased sugar level results in a decrease in the perception of bitternessby masking the bitter compounds in chocolate (Guinard and Mazzucchelli1999). Similarly, lower sugar chocolate puddings were more bitter comparedto higher sugar chocolate puddings (Geiselman et al. 1998). However, itshould be noted that in those studies, the samples with the lowest sucrose alsocontained the most cocoa liquor.

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FIG. 5. ACCEPTABILITY AND RANKING AT 8, 12, 21 AND 76 H OF CONCHINGSamples with different letters are significantly different.

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There was a significant difference in both acceptability and preference ofthe different sucrose levels (Fig. 7). Samples with 44.3% sucrose were signifi-cantly more acceptable than 30% sucrose, and 35 to 44.3% was preferred over30%. The least preferred sample, 30%, was perceived to have the least amountof chocolate flavor and highest in bitterness (Fig. 6).

Lecithin

Lecithin is added to replace some of the cocoa butter and is legally limitedto 1% of the chocolate, with 0.5% being typically added commercially. Thesmoothness of the samples with different amounts of lecithin was significantlydifferent (Fig. 8); however, Tukey HSD multiple comparisons found no dif-ference between the samples. When the data for the females-only group wereevaluated, 2% lecithin was significantly smoother than 0% lecithin (Fig. 8).Women perform better in distinguishing differences in foods than men becauseof their better sensory memory (Mojet and Koster 2002). Lecithin is anemulsifier that is added in chocolate to create a smooth texture instead ofhaving to add more cocoa butter, and hence lowers the production cost(Nebesny and Zyzelewicz 2005). Lecithin forms a hydrophobic surface aroundthe sugar and cocoa particles that help the cocoa butter efficiently coat the

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FIG. 6. CHOCOLATE FLAVOR AND BITTERNESS AT DIFFERENT SUCROSE CONTENTSSamples with different letters are significantly different.

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sugar particles (Dimick and Hoskin 1981). A 0.5% amount of lecithin is thebest level for forming an interface between the fat and solid particles and toproduce smooth chocolate (St John et al. 1995).

Panelists did not find any significant difference in chocolate flavor fordifferent lecithin contents (Fig. 8). Panelists found 0 and 0.5% lecithin to besignificantly more acceptable and preferred over 2% lecithin (Fig. 9). Thelower preference for the 2% lecithin might be due to off-flavors that can beproduced when more than 1% lecithin is used (St. John et al. 1995).

Cocoa Butter

The cocoa butter levels evaluated were 5, 10, 16 and 20%, which corre-sponds to 24.5, 28.7, 33.8 and 37% total fat content. Commercial milk choco-lates contain 29 to 36% total fat. In general, increasing fat content is related toa richer mouthfeel, faster melting rate and smoother chocolate (Talbot 2005).An increase of 1% at 28% fat content greatly reduces plastic viscosity;however, at a fat content above 32%, there is no significant effect on viscosity

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FIG. 7. ACCEPTABILITY AND RANKING AT DIFFERENT SUCROSE CONTENTSSamples with different letters are significantly different.

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FIG. 8. SMOOTHNESS AND CHOCOLATE FLAVOR AT DIFFERENT LECITHIN CONTENTSSamples with different letters are significantly different.

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FIG. 9. ACCEPTABILITY AND RANKING AT DIFFERENT LECITHIN CONTENTSSamples with different letters are significantly different.

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(Afoakwa et al. 2007). In this study, the hardness of the samples decreasedwith increasing cocoa butter content (Fig. 10). Cocoa butter levels of 5 and10% were significantly harder than 16 and 20%. The smoothness attribute wasfound to be significantly different between the samples (Fig. 10); however,when Tukey’s HSD multiple comparisons were performed, none of thesamples were different from each other.

Varying cocoa butter level had no significant effect on bitterness(Fig. 10). Fat suppresses bitterness (Preininger 2006), thus high-fat chocolatepuddings are less bitter than low-fat chocolate puddings (Geiselman et al.1998). The addition of cocoa butter coats the bitter compounds, and thus aprevious study using a trained panel found that the bitterness level decreases aslevel of cocoa butter increases in chocolate (Guinard and Mazzucchelli 1999).

Panelists rated the cocoa butter samples significantly different from eachother in terms of acceptability and preference (Fig. 11). Samples with 5%cocoa butter was significantly more acceptable than 20%, 10% was signifi-cantly more acceptable than 16 and 20%, and 5 and 10% samples weresignificantly preferred over 20%. The middle samples, 10 and 16%, fall withinthe range of fat in commercial milk chocolate. Theoretically, liking of

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FIG. 10. INTENSITY OF HARDNESS, SMOOTHNESS AND BITTERNESS AT DIFFERENTCOCOA BUTTER CONTENTS

Samples with different letters are significantly different.

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chocolate should increase with increasing fat content since it gives a richermouthfeel and faster melting rate in the mouth (Talbot 2005). However, in thisstudy, panelists did not detect a difference in the bitterness or smoothnessattributes for samples with different fat contents, which might have causedthem to prefer the higher fat samples. Instead, they preferred the samples withlower fat, which were perceived to be harder.

Milk Powder

Milk chocolate with higher milk fat content is significantly softer thanmilk chocolate with lower milk fat content (Subramaniam and Murphy 2001).The addition of milk fat reduces the hardness of chocolate since it dilutes thecocoa butter and thus increases the amount of the liquid phase (Full et al.1996). Samples with 5, 10 and 20% milk powder were significantly lesssmooth than 30% milk powder (Fig. 12). The chocolate with the highest milkfat (30% milk powder) was perceived as the smoothest.

In terms of caramel flavor, the 5%-milk-powder sample was significantlylower than 30% milk powder (Fig. 12). Increasing the milk powder content

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bcc

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FIG. 11. ACCEPTABILITY AND RANKING FOR DIFFERENT COCOA BUTTER CONTENTSSamples with different letters are significantly different.

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should be directly proportional to increasing the caramel flavor. The caramelflavor in milk is caused by sugar decomposition and Strecker degradation ofamino acids in casein (Patton 1955).

The 13%-milk-powder samples were significantly more acceptable thanthe 5%-milk-powder samples and the 13- and 30%-milk-powder samples weresignificantly preferred to the 5%-milk-powder samples (Fig. 13). The pre-ferred samples, with more milk powder, had smoother texture and a strongercaramel flavor.

CONCLUSIONS

The attribute texture was affected the most by conching, milk powder,lecithin and cocoa butter. The flavor attribute was affected most by milkpowder and sugar. All of the variables affected acceptability and/or preferenceof milk chocolate except for time for underconched samples.

Longer conching produced smoother, more mouthcoating chocolate withno change in flavor. The 7 h period of conching produced smoother chocolatethan 3 h of conching. Conching times of 12, 21 and 76 h were smoother than8 h of conching. Both 21 and 76 h of conching were more mouthcoating than

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FIG. 12. SMOOTHNESS AND CARAMEL FLAVOR FOR DIFFERENTMILK POWDER CONTENTS

Samples with different letters are significantly different.

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8 h of conching and also had a very small particle size that causes greasiness.There was no significant difference in either acceptability or preference of theunderconched samples. Samples conched for longer, 21 to 76 h, were preferredto 8 h of conching. Sucrose masked bitterness in chocolate. Increasing sucrosefrom 30 to 40% resulted in an intensified chocolate flavor in the samplesdespite having less cocoa liquor. Panelists preferred the higher sucrosesamples over the lower sucrose samples. With lecithin, no differences werefound in smoothness and chocolate flavor; however, the female-only datafound that 2% lecithin was significantly smoother than 0% lecithin. The 0 and0.5% lecithin samples were significantly preferred over 2% lecithin, possiblydue to off-flavors. Increasing the cocoa butter content led to softer chocolate.No significant differences were found in smoothness and bitterness. Panelistspreferred 5 and 10% cocoa butter to 20% cocoa butter. The 30% milk powderwas smoother than 5, 10 and 20% and had the most caramel flavor. The 13 and30% milk powder samples were most preferred.

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a

abb

baba

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a ab

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FIG. 13. ACCEPTABILITY AND RANKING FOR DIFFERENT MILK POWDER CONTENTSSamples with different letters are significantly different.

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