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Characterization of new assortments of white chocolates with lyophilized medicinal herbal plants
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1  Food Engineering Department, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, 3-5 Calea Mănăştur Street no. 3-5, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, 400372, Cluj, Romania
Academic Editor: Elsa Gonçalves

Abstract:

White chocolate mass was supplemented with lyophilized aerial parts of some medicinal herbs: dandelion (Teraxacum officinale), St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum), elderberry (Sambucus nigra L.) and acacia (Robinia pseudoacacia L.), harvested from the spontaneous flora of Romania. These were transformed into powders rich in phenolic compounds, with powerful antioxidant activity and other biological functions, which might exert a positive impact on the health of consumers. The physicochemical properties of the chocolate bars, color attributes (L, a*, b*, whiteness index and ΔE), and total ash and water content have been established, along with the total content of polyphenols (measured on the methanolic extracts spectrophotometrically with a UV-VIS 1700 Shimadzu at 750 nm) and antioxidant potential (DPPH method). The flow behavior of the white chocolate mass enriched with powders was assessed at 40ºC with an Anton Paar MCR 302 rheometer by applying shear rates from 0.1 s-1 to 100 s-1. The samples exhibited increased values of viscosity, compared to the white chocolate mass. Most of the samples registered low values of ΔE, meaning there are small differences in color in comparison to the reference. In terms of water content, all of the samples fell below the recommendation of SR 2213/4:2007 (<2–3 g/100g). Total ash content varied between 1.39±0.06 and 1.31±0.10%. All samples exhibited high TPC and an antioxidant potential between 20.6 and 5.57 RSA %DPPH inhibited. Novel assortments of chocolates were developed, which, despite fortification with only 1% of herbal compounds, presented increased biological properties, without major effects on the physico-chemical properties.

Keywords: chocolate, viscosity, medicinal herbs, total phenolic compounds, antioxidant potential
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