Evaluation of the protein digestibility of chocolates formulated with vegetable proteins

• Grant number: 24/18829-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Pharmacy - Food Science
• Principal Investigator: Juliana Azevedo Lima Pallone
• Grantee: Gisele Marcondes Luz
• Supervisor: Ana Andres Grau
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos (FEA). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia (UPV), Spain
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/17747-3 - Plant-based chocolates: physicochemical and sensorial characterization and evaluation of the bioaccessibility of nutrients and bioactive compounds in commercial products developed with plant ingredients as milk substitutes, BP.DR

Abstract

Chocolates are formulated with cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, and sugar and may contain milk powder and food additives. To offer new options to the market and meet current trends (vegetarianism and veganism) and consumer demands (healthy, allergic, or intolerant to milk and its nutrients), the food industry is investing in developing chocolates with vegetable ingredients that act technologically as milk substitutes. Known as vegetable chocolates (VC), these new foods use powdered extracts of cereals, legumes, nuts, and other vegetable sources as milk substitutes, in addition to not containing ingredients of animal origin in their formulation. In this context, vegetable proteins (VP) are viable options that can act as milk substitute ingredients in the development of VC and provide novel foods with interesting nutritional potential in terms of protein content. Therefore, the general objective of the study is to evaluate the protein digestibility of 2 VC formulated with VP and 1 milk chocolate (MC), as a comparison, as well as some raw materials. For this purpose, VC and MC developed in the laboratory in Brazil, with 15% VP (pea or fava bean) and 20% milk, will be used. The raw materials analyzed have been donated by manufacturing companies (cocoa liquor, pea, and fava bean proteins) or purchased commercially (milk powder). All samples will be used to determine the content of soluble proteins, bioactive peptides, and amino acid profiles, in addition to performing in vitro gastrointestinal digestion simulation assays to evaluate the bioaccessibility of these nutrients and bioactive compounds using the INFOGEST protocol for young adults (< 65 years) and older adults (> 65 years). In this way, the study intends to contribute to scientific progress in current and unprecedented topics in the area of food science and nutrition, with the possibility of offering the market new foods formulated 100% with vegetable ingredients, with known nutritional potential about the protein profile.