Obtainment of triacylglycerols symmetrics concentrate from cocoa beans inffected with witches' broom disease

• Grant number: 12/05795-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2012
• End date: May 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Technology
• Principal Investigator: Renato Grimaldi
• Grantee: Fernanda Cristina da Silva
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos (FEA). 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

Cocoa beans and their derivatives, such as cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and cocoa liquor, are the main components of chocolate and related products and a problem of great concern is the variation of the cocoa butter quality, which makes crystallization processes hard to reproduce. The main components of the cocoa butter are the symmetric triacylglycerols (SUS), which are essential during the tempering stage in the production of chocolate. The national cocoa butter is the softest in the global market, with only 10% of the amount of SUS found in imported butter, and it is mostly used in blends. Moreover, the witches' broom disease, which affects cocoa plantations all over the world, devalues the cocoa beans' quality, especially as regards the cocoa butter content, making its commercial value lower than the uninfected ones. Considering these aspects, the main purpose of this project is the obtain concentrated triacylglycerols SUS. This process consists of the solvent fractionation of cocoa butter extracted from beans that are infected with the witches' broom disease. The concentrate can be used as a crystallization inductor to speed the tempering process in the production of chocolate and its derivatives, and it will be analyzed in subsequent projects.(AU)