Modified soybean lecithins as inducers of the acceleration of cocoa butter crystallization

Abstract

Modified soy lecithins are introduced in chocolate processing as an alternative to standard lecithin to improve rheological characteristics and the fat crystallization process. The influence of the type of these additives (hydroxylated, enzymatically hydrolyzed, acetylated, and defatted lecithins) as well as the amount added (0.2, 0.5, 0.8% [w/w]) to cocoa butter was evaluated. The results were compared to samples containing standard lecithin and polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR). The influence of emulsifier addition was investigated measuring the melting and crystallization properties by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and the crystallization kinetics using a Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectrometer. The addition of modified lecithins to cocoa butter increased fat crystallization rates, mainly at the lowest concentration evaluated. The isothermal crystallization of the emulsifiers suggests that lecithins may act as co-crystallizers in cocoa butter crystallization. Thus, the acceleration of the crystallization events can be attributed to presence of the high melting point phospholipids and also to solids present in lecithins. Pure PGPR did not crystallize and did not influence the cocoa butter crystallization. The use of modified lecithins in cocoa butter decreased the maximum temperature of melting (T max ) and increased the crystallization (DH c ) and melting (DH m ) enthalpies. Practical application:The modified soy lecithins may be used as alternatives to expand the range of applications of phospholipids containing emulsifiers like standard soybean lecithin. These new commercial emulsifiers may act as crystallization agent, anti-bloom agent, to control polymorphism and as improver of rheological properties of chocolate or the like. Our results showed that the effects of modified lecithins were more prominent than standard lecithin on crystallization process, mainly in low concentration, so that their use can significantly reduce costs in industrial chocolate processing and produce more appealing products.

Retardation of Crystallization through the Addition of Dairy Phospholipids

“…All other samples with the addition of PL that could be fit to the Avrami equation had n values close to 4 suggesting spherulitic growth from sporadic nuclei (Marangoni, 2012). Literature showed similar results when soy lecithin was added at a 0.2% level to cocoa butter, although the results showed less variation with all samples resulting in a mix of instantaneous disc structure or spherulitic spontaneous structures (Miyasaki et al, 2016). Vanhoutte et al (2002) reported n values similar to the ones reported in our study for AMF with 0.01% PL crystallized at 24 °C, but the other samples with 0.01% PL and 0.1% PL that showed spherulitic growth from sporadic nuclei did not compare with Vanhoutte's results.…”

“…The effects of lecithin on lipid crystallization shows that lecithins do not influence the solid fat content of nontrans fat spreads with confectionary application, but they do influence the viscoelastic properties specifically increasing the elastic properties (Lončarević et al, 2013). In other studies, using cocoa butter an induction of crystallization, affecting the solid fat content, occurred when soybean lecithin was added at low concentrations (0.2%) but as the concentration of PL increased the rates of crystallization decreased (Miyasaki et al, 2016). A contrary effect was observed by Rigolle et al (2015) in cocoa butter showing a delay in crystallization when sunflower and soy lecithin were added.…”

“…As expected, T on increased with T c (p < 0.05). Miyasaki et al (2016) when they added 1.5% sunflower lecithin to vegetable fats and standard lecithin (0.2%, 0.5%, & 0.8%) to cocoa butter respectively. No difference was seen in the DSC melting profiles with the addition of PL ( Figure 3) other than peaks were less defined for 90 min samples as PL increases.…”

Interactions between whey protein or polymerized whey protein and soybean lecithin in model system

“…Soybean lecithin (SL) is a mixture of phospholipid derivatives including phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylinositol, and phosphatidylglycerol (Miyasaki et al, 2015). Lecithin has both hydrophilic and lipophilic properties, and its hydrophobic groups tend to absorb to the surface of proteins with hydrophobic groups, whereas its hydrophilic heads face water to promote dispersion (Chiplunkar and Pratap, 2017).…”

Engineering the nucleation of edible fats using a high behenic acid stabilizer

“…The influence of additives and minor ingredients on crystallization enhancement of fats has been extensively reviewed . Some of the examples that have not been covered in those reviews are listed here: monoacylglycerols, diacylglycerols, and polyglycerol esters in palm oil, palm olein, palm‐based margarine fat, non‐hydrogenated fat not based on palm, and fat blends containing 75% coconut oil and 25% sunflower oil , free fatty acids and their esters in milk fat , sorbitan monooleate in soybean‐based interesterified fat , lecithin in commercial fats added to margarine and cocoa butter , sorbitan monostearate and monooleate in cocoa butter , to name a few. However, not much research has been conducted on the effects of high‐behenic acid stabilizers (HBS) on the nucleation and crystallization behavior of edible fats.…”