Many individuals will soon load up Easter baskets with chocolate candy for youngsters and adults to enjoy. By itself, dark chocolate has health advantages, equivalent to antioxidants that neutralize damaging free radicals. And a report in ACS Food Science & Technology suggests that packing the sweet treat with pre- and probiotics could make it more healthful. Flavoring agents, nonetheless, can affect many properties, including moisture level and protein content of the chocolate product.
Probiotics, present in fermented foods equivalent to yogurt and kimchi, reside microbes that improve the gut microbiome, shifting the balance toward useful bacteria and yeasts. They also can ease digestive issues and reduce inflammation. These energetic cultures need food and protection to survive harsh gut conditions, so prebiotics — substances like dietary fibers and oligosaccharides — are sometimes added to probiotic-containing products to create synbiotic foods. Because chocolate is a treat that many individuals enjoy, researchers have used it to check various mixtures of pre- and probiotics. Some methods for including prebiotics are laborious, so Smriti Gaur and Shubhi Singh explored prebiotics that may not require extensive processing — corn and honey — in chocolate fortified with probiotics.
The team developed five chocolates for his or her study. One contained only basic chocolate ingredients, including cocoa butter, cocoa powder and milk powder. 4 different synbiotic test samples also contained prebiotics (corn and honey), one probiotic (either Lactobacillus acidophilus La-14 or Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG) and one flavor additive (either cinnamon or orange). When the researchers examined several properties of the chocolate samples, they found that fat levels, which influence texture and mouthfeel, were consistent amongst all five samples. Nevertheless, there have been differences:
- Flavorings impacted some characteristics of the synbiotic chocolates. For instance, orange flavorings decreased pH, increased moisture and enhanced protein levels in comparison with all the opposite samples.
- The 4 synbiotic samples had higher antioxidant levels than the control.
- Synbiotic samples had less “snap” in comparison with the control, suggesting that the extra ingredients disrupted the structure of the chocolate.
The overall microbial counts of the synbiotic chocolate samples decreased during storage, however the probiotic microbes still exhibited viability after 125 days. This time period is longer than other researchers have reported when using different bacteria and prebiotics in chocolates. Finally, when Gaur and Singh exposed the synbiotic chocolates to simulated gastrointestinal conditions, the probiotics within the samples maintained substantial viability for greater than 5 hours.
The researchers also snuck a taste of the confections. “Personally, we enjoyed the orange-flavored chocolates essentially the most, where the colourful citrus notes complemented the wealthy cocoa, and it had a rather softer texture that made each bite feel more luxurious,” says Gaur. “In the long run, we’re excited to explore additional health advantages of those chocolates while thoroughly investigating their sensory and dietary profiles, with the goal of making a good more healthful and enjoyable treat.”
The authors report no external funding for this work.
