Cocoa substitutes products

However, there are two related classes of products which do depend, more or less, on Maillard technology chocolate flavors, and cocoa substitutes (or extenders, as they are more realistically called). 

Cocoa extenders or substitutes, as products which purport to be serious contenders for a fraction of the cocoa market, are a relatively new phenomenon. So long as cocoa was plentiful, cheap, and of superior quality a cocoa substitute made no sense. But the steady increasing of prices and tightening of supplies of cocoa in view of rising worldwide demand provided the incentive for some companies to undertake limited development of cocoa substitutes. It was no coincidence that their appearance on the market in early 1977 matched the peaking prices of both cacao beans and cocoa. 

The second kind of commercial cocoa substitute consists of roasted food products. Clearly, whether intentionally or not, they employ Maillard technology in the same way in which it is employed in producing cocoa and coffee. The ingredients disclosures suggest that no effort has been made to modify or to enhance the flavors by the addition of amino acids or of special sugars (xylose, for example). At least three of these products are worth mentioning. 

But to date the products are, at best, acceptable adulterants, based on limited development, and no real research work. Nor is the price situation favorable to cocoa substitutes. Swiftly falling prices and accumulating stocks for cocoa from mid-1977 to early 1980 are more of an overreaction than anyone predicted. Based on the information presently available, the outlook for cocoa substitutes is not favorable. 

Substitutes and Equivalents. In the past 25 years, many fats have been developed to replace part or all of the added cocoa butter ia chocolate-flavored products. These fats fall into two basic categories commonly known as cocoa butter substitutes and cocoa butter equivalents. Neither can be used ia the United States ia standardized chocolate products, but they are used ia small amounts, usually up to 5% of the total weight of the product, ia some European countries. 

Cocoa butter substitutes of all types enjoy widespread use ia the United States chiefly as ingredients ia chocolate-flavored products. Cocoa butter equivalents are not widely used because of their higher price and limited supply. 

Lipases can be used in transferase reactions to exchange fatly acids in fats. This is of considerable interest to the food industry. The enzymatic production of cocoa butter substitutes is the most well-known example. Cocoa butter is the fat component in chocolate. It melts in the range between room temperature and body temperature because its triglyceride molecules contain certain combinatiorts of fatly acids. Natiual... 

Unlike olive oil, the analysis of cocoa butter is not governed by legal definitions. However, the legal definition of chocolate is specific in relation to whether cocoa butter is present alone or as the major vegetable fat, with strict limits on the presence of other vegetable fats in the product. Cocoa butter is also one of the few fats for which artificially manufactured substitutes of similar composition have been constructed and openly marketed. Because of this, analysis of the adulteration of cocoa butter probably has a greater importance than that of any fat other than olive oil, and the approaches to this analysis are described in chapter 3. 

Except for enzyme-directed processes to place certain fatty acids in specific positions on TAG, such as production of coating fats, cocoa butter substitutes, or reduced-calorie fats,135 the... 

Cocoa butter (CB) has a challenging chemistry and has attracted many efforts to develop lower cost, acceptable alternatives. The following definitions provide a quick introduction to this field (1) cocoa butter equivalents (CBEs) are compounded mostly from tropical oils other than palm. Because their melting and crystallization properties closely resemble CB, they are compatible as diluents at all levels of substitution (2) cocoa butter replacers (CBRs) are made from nondairy oils (typically soybean, cottonseed, or palm) partially hydrogenated for maximum trans-CIS isomer formation to acquire a steep melting profile. They are best used for enrobing bakery products, but their melting profiles can be improved by chill fractionation and (3) cocoa butter substitutes (CBSs) are made primarily from... 

Cocoa Butter Substitute occurs as a white, waxy solid that is predominantly a mixture of triglycerides derived primarily from palm, safflower, sunflower, or coconut oils. The resulting products may be used directly or with cocoa butter in all proportions for the preparation of coatings. In contrast to many edible oils and hard butters, Cocoa Butter Substitute has an abrupt melting range, changing from a rather firm, plastic solid below 32° to a liquid at about 33.8° to 35.5°. 

Considerable recent research has defined conditions for successful use of lipases and other enzymes in numerous lipid modification reactions, including a variety of types of interesterifications (69, 71, 76). For edible applications to date, they have been employed at industrial scales for the production of (1) cocoa butter substitutes, for which disaturated, monounsaturated acylglycerols with the unsaturated fatty acid in the sn-2 position are desired (77) (2) to produce human milkfat analogues, where 2-palmitoyl acylglycerols are desired (77) (3) in the synthesis of 1,3- di-acylglycerols (78) and in the production of diacylglycerols for edible applications. These reactions employ vegetable oils as feedstocks. 

Fractionation of Palm Kernel Oil. As in palm oil, palm kernel oil can also be fractionated via the dry, detergent, and solvent processes (62). The principles applied are quite similar. The conditions of operation, however, are quite different because of the different triglyceride composition and crystallization behavior of palm kernel oil. In the dry fraction process, the separation of palm kernel olein from the palm kernel stearin is effected by hydraulic pressing under high pressure. In this case, the palm kernel stearin, which is an important material for production of lauric-basic cocoa butter substitute, is the premium product. Its yield ranges from 25 to 40% depending on the process used. 

Solvent fractionation is the term used to describe the crystallization process of a desired fat fraction from oil that is solubillized in a suitable solvent. Fat fractions may be selectively crystallized at different temperatures, after which the fractions are separated and the solvent removed. This procedure is suitable for the preparation of value-added products. The production of cocoa butter equivalents, cocoa butter substitutes, cocoa butter replacers, and medium-chain triacyl-glycerols (MCTs) are well-known applications for this type of fractionation. 

To date, lipase-catalyzed interesterihcation has been apphed almost exclusively to the production of value-added products. One of the best examples is the manufacture of cocoa-butter-type TAGs. The potential of i -l,3-specihc lipases for production of cocoa butter substitutes relies on enzyme-catalyzed tra i-esterihcation or acidolysis of palm oil with tristearin or stearic acid, respectively. 

The cocoa butter can be partly or wholly substituted by other fats. If more than 20% of the cocoa butter is substituted by another fat then the product is regarded as chocolate imitation. In addition to vanillin and/or ethylvanillin or other flavourings are added to the so-called chocolate imitations (e.g. chocolate, coffee, hazelnut, orange). 

The employment of 1,3-selective lipases leads to structured TAG where specific acyl groups are confined to either the l-(3-) or 2-acylglycerol position. One of the earliest examples is cocoa butter substitute formed by 1,3-selective lipase-catalyzed acidolysis (reaction 1 of Fig. 3) of palm oil midfraction by palmitic acid (resulting in the replacement of 1-, 3-dipalmityl, 2-oleyl TAG by l-(3-) palmityl, 2-oleyl, 3- (1-) steryl TAG and 1-, 3-disteryl, 2-oleyl TAG, both of which are abundant in cocoa butter). The product... 

The physical properties of PKOs resemble particularly closely those of cocoa butter, and it is generally acknowledged that the best types of CBS are made from this fat. Substantial quantities of PKO are therefore fractionated in Western Europe, the US and Malaysia for this purpose. Coconut stearin, on the other hand, while having exceptionally sharp melting properties and mouth feel, has a melting point which is too low for substitute chocolate and most coatings. It is also obtained in lower yield and so is more costly to produce. Its uses, therefore, are restricted to the finest biscuit creams and a small number of luxury products. 

Sometimes substitute chocolate products develop soapy rancidity. This is usually blamed on the lauric fat, but in nearly every case this can be traced to defects in the other ingredients, such as the use of cocoa powder of high bacterial count or high moisture left in the product—this should be below 1.0%. 

Microbiological lipid synthesis undoubtedly offers vast opportunities with respect to the syntheses of PEFA and special TAG such as cocoa butter substitutes. However, the problems related to production economics and the production of biooils with optimal compositions must be solved first. 

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