Low-Fat chocolate will be on the market.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – Researchers have worked hard over the last few years to find a chocolate recipe that would be low in fat and tasty at the same time.
It seems that their efforts have finally paid off as a team of scientists from Temple University have discovered a way to produce a chocolate product with just 20 percent fat. They even claim that it tastes really sweet.
The study turned out to be successful after they thought of using an electrified sieve to process the liquid milk chocolate. Before acquiring its hardened form, chocolate is first fluid. This form relies mostly on cocoa butter which makes the liquid chocolate flow through the machines.
Previous attempts failed because the butter became too solid, blocking the machines. According to Rongjia Tao, lead researcher, this cocoa liquid transforms when it is affected by an electric field. After discovering that liquid chocolate is a smart fluid, the team of scientists understood that electric shocks might help it thicken.
If people look at cocoa solid on the microscope, they will see that cocoa solids are in fact circular and pile up in high densities, becoming jammed. Cocoa butter is the ingredient responsible for making these solids move again.
During an experiment, Tao, and his colleagues introduced an electric sieve into the liquid chocolate to see what happens. They were surprised to find out that cocoa solids started to turn into bag magnets, lined one after the other, resulting in a smooth flowing process of the chocolate.
In other words, the liquid became flat, so it was easier for it to flow through the machine. It is also worth mentioning that Tao believes this low-fat chocolate is also healthier and tastier than other products. Still, many chocolate substitutes failed until now, and the concept of taste might be quite tricky as people have various preferences.
According to John Hayes, a food expert, and director of the Sensory Evaluation Center at Penn State University, this low-fat chocolate might still have a long way to go until it can be considered the ideal substitute.
The team of scientists needs to continue the research to establish how healthy this type of chocolate is compared with other products on the market. Plus, they need to determine if it will be a valuable asset in everyday diets.
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