Evaluation of the crystallization and polymorphism of cocoa butter through the addition of sorbitan esters and sucrose esters of fatty acids emulsifiers

• Grant number: 11/04264-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Effective date (Start): August 01, 2011
• Effective date (End): June 30, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Theo Guenter Kieckbusch
• Grantee: Monise Helen Masuchi Buscato
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia Química (FEQ). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 09/53006-0 - Modification, control and stabilization of the crystallization and polymorphic behavior of fats, with emphasis in cocoa butter and palm oil, AP.TEM

Abstract

The knowledge of the crystallization behavior of fats and oils during processing and storage, mainly in the food industry, is an important asset for developing products with desirable structure, texture and quality. Depending on the lipid matrix composition, the ambient and process conditions to which the fat is subjected, different crystalline network with specific physicochemical properties will be formed. With this in mind, the study of cocoa butter crystallization can help to improve the production quality of chocolates by decreasing or even avoiding common problems related to them, such as exudation of oil, polymorphic transitions and undesirable development of fat bloom. A possible alternative to modify and to control the crystallization of cocoa butter in the production of chocolates has been the incorporation of emulsifiers - extremely important functional additives in the food industry. Thus, this project aims to evaluate the effect of adding non commonly used emulsifiers like sorbitan esters and sucrose fatty acid esters at different concentrations in the crystallization behavior of cocoa butter. For this purpose, cocoa butter samples containing different concentrations (0.5; 1.5 and 3.0% m/m) of emulsifiers monopalmitate, monostearate and monooleate of sorbitan and monopalmitate, monostearate and monobehenate of sucrose will be prepared. The evaluation of the influence of the emulsifier addition to cocoa butter will be studied through the analysis of parameters such as melting point, consistency, solid fat content, crystallization kinetics, thermal behavior and polymorphism of the samples. This project is linked to FAPESP project titled "Modification, control and stabilization of the crystallization and polymorphism behavior of fats, with emphasis in cocoa butter and palm oil", nº 09/53006-0, coordinated by Prof. Dr. Theo Guenter Kieckbusch. (AU)