FAT COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING Sat2O TRIGLYCERIDES

Abstract

The present invention relates to a fat composition comprising triglycerides of which at least 75% is of the type Sat.sub.2O, and wherein in the fat composition: a) the content of St.sub.2O is 30% or less of the total fat, and b) the ratio (StOSt+StStO)/(POSt+PStO+StPO) is at least 0.95. The invention also relates to uses of the fat composition and to a coating compound, chocolate or chocolate-like product comprising the fat composition according to the present invention.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. A fat composition comprising triglycerides of which at least 75% is of the type Sat.sub.2O, and wherein, in the fat composition: a) the content of S12O is 30% or less of the total fat, and B) the ratio (StOSt+StStO)/(POSt+PStO+StPO) is at least 0.95.

17. A fat composition according to claim 16, wherein between 75% and 85% of the triglycerides are of the type Sat.sub.2O.

18. A fat composition according to claim 16, wherein between 77% and 83% of the triglycerides are of the type Sat.sub.2O.

19. A fat composition according to claim 16, wherein the content of St.sub.2O is 28% or less of the total fat content.

20. A fat composition according to claim 16, wherein the ratio (StOSt+StStO)/(POSt+PStO+StPO) is at least 1.

21. A fat composition according to claim 16, wherein the ratio (StOSt+StStO)/(POSt+PStO+StPO) is between 1 and 3.

22. A fat composition according to claim 16, further comprising milk fat and wherein, in the fat composition, the content of milk fat is 20 wt % or less of the total fat content.

23. A fat composition according to claim 16, wherein the content in % of triglycerides is measured according to the AOCS Ce 5b-89 standard method.

24. A fat composition according to claim 16, wherein the fat composition is a coating compound.

25. A fat composition according to claim 16, wherein the fat composition is a chocolate or chocolate-like fat composition.

26. A fat composition according to claim 16, wherein the fat composition is employed for manufacture of a processed food product for human consumption.

27. A fat composition according to claim 16, wherein the fat composition is employed as an ingredient in a confectionary product.

28. A fat composition according to claim 16, wherein the fat composition is employed as an ingredient in coating compounds for a confectionary product.

29. A fat composition according to claim 16, wherein the fat composition is employed as an ingredient in a chocolate or chocolate-like product.

30. A coating compound, chocolate, or chocolate-like product comprising between 15% and 60% by weight of a fat composition according to claim 16.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0051] The invention is further illustrated by the drawings, wherein

[0052] FIG. 1a: Illustrates the relation between the StOSt/POSt ratio and bloom stability for dark chocolate.

[0053] FIG. 1b: Illustrates the relation between BCI value and bloom stability for dark chocolate.

[0054] FIG. 1c: Illustrates the relation between the BCI value and the ratio between StOSt/POSt.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0055] Disclosed herein is a fat composition comprising triglycerides of which at least 75% is of the type Sat.sub.2O, and wherein in the fat composition: [0056] a) the content of St.sub.2O is 30% or less of the total fat, and [0057] b) the ratio (StOSt+StStO)/(POSt+PStO+StPO) is at least 0.95.

[0058] In one embodiment between 75% and 85% of said triglycerides is of the type Sat.sub.2O. In another embodiment between 77% and 83% of said triglycerides is of the type Sat.sub.2O.

[0059] The content of St.sub.2O is 29% or less of the total fat content in one embodiment. The content of St.sub.2O is 28% or less of the total fat content in one embodiment.

[0060] The content of St.sub.2O is in one embodiment between 8% and 30%, such as between 10% and 28%.

[0061] In one embodiment the ratio (StOSt+StStO)/(POSt+PStO+StPO) is at least 1. In another embodiment the ratio (StOSt+StStO)/(POSt+PStO+StPO) is between 1 and 3.

[0062] The content of St.sub.2O TAGs has to be close to or lower than the St.sub.2O content as found in a standard chocolate composition to ensure the same nice and fast melting, but at the same time the ratio between StOSt/POSt has to be much higher to improve the bloom stability at elevated temperature and still keep the nice melting as found by using a standard cocoa butter.

[0063] The above defined bloom stable well melting fat composition can be defined as having a content of Sat.sub.2O TAGs higher than 75% and a St.sub.2O content less than 30% and a ratio between (StOSt+StStO)/(POSt+PStO+StPO) at 0.95 or higher, such as in the range of 1 to 3.

[0064] From the examples it is shown that for a chocolate or chocolate-like product with a maximum of 30% St.sub.2O TAGs it can be observed and concluded that increasing the ratio of StOSt/POSt increases bloom stability of a dark chocolate stored at 25° C. isotherm.

[0065] FIG. 1a shows that the ratio between StOSt/POSt is very important for a chocolates bloom stability at an elevate temperature, and it can be concluded that a ratio between StOSt/POSt above 0.95 improves the bloom stability significant.

[0066] In one embodiment the content in % of triglycerides of the fat composition can be measured according to the AOCS Ce 5b-89 standard method.

[0067] In one embodiment the fat composition does not comprise any milk fat.

[0068] The fat composition can in one embodiment further comprise milk fat. In one embodiment the content of milk fat is 20 wt % or less of the total fat content, such as 15 wt % or less of the total fat content, such as 10 wt % or less of the total fat content. In one embodiment the content of milk fat is between 0 and 20 wt % of the total fat content, such as between 0 and 15 wt % of the total fat content, such as between 0 and 10 wt % of the total fat content, such as between 0 and 5 wt % of the total fat content.

[0069] In one embodiment the fat composition is a chocolate or chocolate-like fat composition. In another embodiment the fat composition is a coating compound.

[0070] Further disclosed is the use of the fat composition as disclosed herein for the manufacture of a processed food product for human consumption.

[0071] Further disclosed is also the use of the fat composition as disclosed herein, which are to be incorporated in a food products for human consumption.

[0072] Further disclosed is also the use of the fat composition as disclosed herein as an ingredient in a confectionary product.

[0073] Further disclosed is also the use of the fat composition as disclosed herein as an ingredient in coating compounds for a confectionary product. The coating compounds will typically comprise between 15% and 60% by weight of a fat composition, such as between 20% and 50% by weight of a fat composition.

[0074] Further disclosed is also the use of the fat composition as disclosed herein as an ingredient in a chocolate or chocolate-like product. The chocolate or chocolate-like product will typically comprise between 15% and 60% by weight of a fat composition, such as between 20% and 50% by weight of a fat composition.

[0075] Further disclosed is also a coating compound, chocolate or chocolate-like product comprising between 15% and 60% by weight of a fat composition, such as between 20% and 50% by weight of a fat composition, as disclosed herein.

EXAMPLES

[0076] In the examples, 25° C. isothermal storage are used as a representative temperature since this is a common storage temperature in most countries during at least summer time. However, the chocolate industry also has problems at 23° C. and 27° C.—any elevated temperature above room temperature (19-21° C.) will accelerate bloom development, and the shelf life drops significantly.

Example 1

[0077] Bloom formation is one standard parameter to evaluate the quality of a chocolate. Bloom forms during storage of chocolate, and this formation is accelerated with increasing storage temperature. At room temperature, 19° C. to 21° C., the shelf life (i.e. the time before bloom is formed) for a dark well processed chocolate is more than a year, while it will be reduced to 1.5-3 months if it is kept at a 25° C. isothermal storage.

[0078] It is desired to avoid strong bloom formation, because the consumer reacts by rejecting the product with bloom as a poor product of inferior quality. Temperature at 25° C. is in many countries a quite common temperature in summertime, and therefore an improvement on bloom stability at that temperature makes a significant improvement for the market. For that reason all examples are evaluated at 25° C.+/−0.5° C. of a trained panel of experts. The days before strong visible bloom is formed is noted in the results for shelf life in the following examples.

[0079] Six different fat compositions are made by mixing cocoa butter, shea stearin and a PMF IV 33 (Palm Mid Fraction) to a certain triglyceride composition comprising at least a StOSt source, a POP source and a POSt source. Fat composition I is standard cocoa butter and thus a reference fat. The six different fat compositions are used to produce six different chocolates by using the recipe in table 2.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Chocolate All amounts are in wt % I II II IV V VI Sugar 48.58 48.58 48.58 48.58 48.58 48.58 Cocoa powder (11%) 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 Skim milk powder 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 Lecithin 0.40 0.40 0.40 0.40 0.40 0.40 Vanillin 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 Fat I 30.00 Fat II 30.00 Fat III 30.00 Fat IV 30.00 Fat V 30.00 Fat VI 30.00 Total fat content * 31.65 31.65 31.65 31.65 31.65 31.65 *Note: Some of the fat content in the fat composition is from cocoa powder.

[0080] After mixing all ingredients except lecithin, vanillin and some of the fat, the rest are mixed on a Teddy mixer with heat jacket to a consistence of marcipan. Every mixture are refined afterward on a three rolls Bühler refiner to an average particle size at 20 micron. All six masses are dry chonced for 3 hours before the remaining fat is added and then followed by a wet chonching for 3 hours. 0.5 hours before chonching is finished, lecithin and flavor are added. The chocolate are filled into an Aasted automatical tempering machine and tempering is optimized for all six chocolates to a well temper chocolate before 100 g chocolate bars are made by depositing the well temper chocolate into preheated moulds and cooled in a Blumen three zones cooling tunnel for 30 minutes. Temperatures are adjusted to 15° C. in zone 1 and 3 and 12° C. in zone 2. The de-molded chocolate tablet are kept at 20° C. for a week and then moved to 25° C. cabinet for isothermal storage. Every week the tablet is evaluated for visible bloom by a trained panel of experts and when strong visible bloom is evaluated, the number of days are noted down as the shelf life results. A 100 g tablet is sent for analysis. All fat is extract (using the method AOAC 920.39(4.5.01)) and analysis for the triglyceride composition are made using the AOCS Ce 5b-89 method.

[0081] Table 3 shows the content of the different Sat.sub.2O TAGs found by using the method AOCS Ce 5b-89 and the compared shelf life of the chocolate tablets from table 2. The asymmetric isomers are included in the amount specified under each TAGs in the examples since the method used (AOCS Ce 5b-89) does not measure the difference in isomeric state of a TAG. Hence, for example, when there is written POSt in the tables it also includes its isomers; PStO and StPO.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Chocolate I II III IV V VI POP AOCS Ce 5b-89 15.1% *** 22.6%    29.7% 50.1% *** 31.5%    38.4% POSt AOCS Ce 5b-89 38.2% 30.4% 24.9% 14.1% 20.6% 12.9% StOSt AOCS Ce 5b.89 27.8% 27.1% 25.1% 15.3% 26.9% 26.6% Total Sat.sub.2O TAGs 81.1% 80.1% 79.7% 79.5% 79.0% 77.9% Days before strong >365 >365    >365 >365 >365    >365 bloom at 20° C. isothermal storage Days before strong 196 >365    >365 >365 >365    >365 bloom at 23° C. isothermal storage Days before strong 56 77   182 >280 >280    >280 bloom at 25° C. isothermal storage StOSt/POSt AOCS Ce 5b-89 0.73  0.89 1.01 1.09  1.31 2.06 BCI value** 4.1 2.4  1.6 0.7 0.6  1.0 **Note: BCI value = Bühler Crystallization Index. The method is described of the Company Bühler who produce the instrument.

[0082] The BCI value is used in the chocolate and fat industry to predict the crystallization behaviour of cocoa butter in a fast way. It is an empirical value, and a BCI value of above 4 is widely accepted as a good quality cocoa butter regarding crystallization behaviour. Thus, it is an empirical value known in the art.

[0083] Results in FIG. 1a, b, and c show a close connection between bloom stability at 25° C., BCI value, and the ratio StOSt/POSt for the fat compositions.

[0084] FIG. 1b shows surprisingly that a low BCI value define that a fat composition shows the highest bloom stability at elevate temperature, which are the opposite of the common understanding of BCI value where a high BCI value indicates a better quality. Perhaps this is true regarding crystallization, but clearly not regarding bloom at 25° C. where it seems that a BCI value below 1.6 is preferred (see FIG. 1b).

[0085] Chocolate I is a standard chocolate based on 100% cocoa butter (reference) and it is evident that the fat composition of Chocolate I blooms fast in a 25° C. isotherm storage cabinet and get strong bloom after just 56 days, which in many applications are too short shelf life.

[0086] For a chocolate with a maximum of 30% St.sub.2O TAGs it can be observed and concluded that increasing ratio of StOSt/POSt increases bloom stability of a dark chocolate stored at 25° C. isotherm.

[0087] FIG. 1a shows that the ratio StOSt/POSt is very important for a chocolates bloom stability at an elevate temperature and it can be concluded that a ratio StOSt/POSt above 0.95 improves the bloom stability significant.

[0088] FIG. 2a shows a correlation between a chocolates BCI value and bloom stability at 25° C. isotherm. Low BCI value makes much longer bloom stability at 25° C. than a high BCI value, and in the interval between 1 and 2 in BCI value it changes from low bloom stability to high bloom stability for a chocolate with maximum 30% StOSt (and isomers) TAGs of its total Sat.sub.2O Tags.

[0089] FIG. 1c shows a close connection between the StOSt/POSt ratio and the BCI value for a certain fat composition. If the StOSt/POSt ratio is below 1.1, the BCI value will increase significant, which indicate a much faster crystallization and thereby a correlation to bloom formation. Above 1.1 the BCI value is mostly constant for all fat composition according to the present invention.

Example 2

[0090] The content of the asymmetric isomers, StStO, PStO/StPO and PPO, will at a certain concentration impact bloom formation in a chocolate or chocolate-like compound. These asymmetric isomers are included in the amount specified under each TAGs in the examples since the method used (AOCS Ce 5b-89) does not measure the difference in isomeric state of a TAG.

[0091] Example 2 shows for a constant concentration of these isomers how the (StOSt+StStO)/(POSt+PStO+StPO) ratio surprisingly still have a major impact on bloom stability for a chocolate bar stored at 25° C.+/−0.5° C. isotherm, which is irrespective of the presence of the isomers, hence the example shows that if you keep the asymmetric TAGs constant then the relationship between (StOSt+StStO) and (POSt+PStO+StPO) has an effect on bloom stability.

[0092] Five different fat compositions are made by mixing cocoa butter, shea stearin and PMF IV 33 (Palm Mid Fraction) to a certain triglyceride composition comprising at least a StOSt source, a POP source and a POSt source.

[0093] The five different fat compositions are used to produce five different chocolates by using the recipe in table 4.

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 All amounts Chocolate are in wt % VII VIII IX X XI Sugar 48.58 48.58 48.58 48.58 48.58 Cocoa powder (11%) 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 Skim milk powder 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 Lecithin 0.40 0.40 0.40 0.40 0.40 Vanillin 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 Fat VII 30.00 Fat VIII 30.00 Fat IX 30.00 Fat X 30.00 Fat XI 30.00 Total fat content* 31.65 31.65 31.65 31.65 31.65 *Note: Some of the fat content in the fat composition is from cocoa powder.

[0094] After mixing all ingredients except lecithin, vanillin and some of the fat, the rest are mixed on a Teddy mixer with heat jacket to a consistence of marzipan. Every mixture are refined afterward on a three rolls Bühler refiner to an average particle size at 20 micron. All six masses are dry chonced for 3 hours before the remaining fat is added and then followed by a wet chonching for 3 hours. 0.5 hours before chonching is finished, lecithin and flavor are added. The chocolate are filled into an Aasted tempering machine and tempering is optimized for all five chocolate to a well temper chocolate before 100 g chocolate bars are made by depositing the well temper chocolate into preheated moulds and cooled in a Blumen three zones cooling tunnel for 30 minutes. Temperatures are adjusted to 15° C. in zone 1 and 3 and 12° C. in zone 2. The de-molded chocolate tablet are kept at 20° C. for a week and then moved to 25° C. cabinet for isothermal storage.

[0095] Every week the tablet is evaluated for visible bloom by a trained panel of experts and when strong visible bloom is evaluated, the number of days are noted down as the shelf life results. A 100 g tablet is sent for analysis. All fat content is extracted (using the method AOAC 920.39(4.5.01)) and analysis for the triglyceride composition are made using the AOCS Ce 5b-89 method. The sum of the asymmetric isomers StStO+PStO/StPO+PPO is analysed. The analysis can be done by any known method by a commercial laboratory. The amount of the asymmetric isomers are measured using an absolute method Table 5 shows the content of the different Sat.sub.2O TAGs found by using the method AOCS Ce 5b-89. The table 5 also shows the total content of the asymmetrical isomers StStO, PStO/StPO, and PPO. The TAG composition is compared with the shelf life of the chocolate tablets based on the recipes from table 4.

TABLE-US-00005 TABLE 5 Chocolate VII VIII IX X XI POP AOCS 27.6% 29.7% 22.6% 15.0% *** Ce 5b-89 17.5% POSt AOCS 25.0% 24.9% 30.4% 37.5% 31.0% Ce 5b-89 StOSt AOCS 27.0% 25.1% 27.1% 27.0% 29.6% Ce 5b.89 Total Sat.sub.2O 79.6% 79.7% 80.1% 79.5% 78.1% TAGs AOCS Ce 5b.89 Days before >365 >365 >365 >365 >365 strong bloom at 20° C. isothermal storage Days before 203 175 77 42 91 strong bloom at 25° C. isothermal storage StOSt/POSt 1.08 1.01 0.89 0.72 0.95 AOCS Ce 5b-89 ΣStStO + 1.6 1.7 1.5 <0.5* <0.5* PStO + StPO + PPO *Below the detection limit.

[0096] Chocolate VII, VIII, and IX show a clear correlation between an increasing ratio of StOSt/POSt and increasing bloom stability at 25° C. isotherm storage for a constant content of ΣStStO+PStO+StPO+PPO at around 1.6%, +/−0.1.

[0097] Chocolate X and XI show a clear correlation between an increasing ratio of StOSt/POSt and increasing bloom stability at 25° C. isotherm storage for a constant content of FStStO+PStO+StPO+PPO at <0.5%.

[0098] The results shows that even though the isomer StStO, PStO/StPO, and PPO have a bloom retarding effect in chocolate it is very important to increase the StOSt/POSt ratio to maximize the total bloom stability at 25° C. isotherm.

Example 3

[0099] It is known that there is both a correlation between increasing St.sub.2O content and increasing bloom stability at 25° C. as well as a more waxy and slow melting profile of the chocolate. Therefore there are a limit of how much St.sub.2O TAGs a chocolate can contain and still maintain a chocolate-like texture and nice melting. To illustrate this connection four chocolates are made and investigated for its melting peak value and end set by analyzing on a Mettler Toledo DSC. Table 6 shows the recipe of the 4 chocolates used for DSC measurements.

TABLE-US-00006 TABLE 6 All amounts Chocolate are in wt % XII XIII XIIII XV Sugar 48.58 48.58 48.58 48.58 Cocoa powder (11%) 15.00 15.00 15.00 15.00 Skim milk powder 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 Lecithin 0.40 0.40 0.40 0.40 Vanillin 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 Fat XII 30.00 Fat XIII 30.00 Fat XIIII 30.00 Fat XV 30.00 Total fat content* 31.65 31.65 31.65 31.65 *Note: Some of the fat content in the fat composition is from cocoa powder.

[0100] After mixing all ingredients except lecithin, vanillin, and some of the fat, the rest are mixed on a Teddy mixer with heat jacket to a consistence of marcipan. Every mixture are refined afterward on a three rolls Bühler refiner to an average particle size at 20 micron. All four masses are dry chonced for 3 hours before the remaining fat is added and then followed by a wet chonching for 3 hours. 0.5 hours before chonching is finished, lecithin and flavor are added. The chocolate are filled into an Aasted tempering machine and tempering is optimized for all four chocolate to a well temper chocolate before 100 g chocolate bars are made by depositing the well temper chocolate into preheated moulds and cooled in a Blumen three zones cooling tunnel for 30 minutes. Temperatures are adjusted to 15° C. in zone 1 and 3 and 12° C. in zone 2. The de-molded chocolate tablets are kept at 20° C. for a week and then refine on a grater. Table 7 shows the content of the different Sat.sub.2O TAGs found by using the method AOCS Ce 5b-89. The TAG composition is compared with the DSC peak value and the end set of melting curves for the refined four chocolates. 10 mg refined chocolate based on the recipe from table 6 are weighed off in a DSC cup and melted in a Mettler Toledo DSC equipment. The program is as following: 2 minutes isotherm at 20.0° C. follow by a heating rate of 3° C./minutes from 20° C. to 50° C. An average of three analysis is used for calculating the Melting curves peak value and end set. Higher value correlate to higher melting point and slower melting and a more waxy taste when eaten by human being. Chocolate XII is a standard chocolate based on a pure prime press cocoa butter from West Africa. The other three chocolates in table 7, XIII, XIII, and XV, have more StOSt (and its isomer) added as shown in table 7.

TABLE-US-00007 TABLE 7 Chocolate XII Std. chocolate XIII XIIII XV POP AOCS Ce 5b-89 15.1% 16.1% 15.4% 15.0% POSt AOCS Ce 5b-89 37.9% 34.0% 32.4% 30.0% StOSt AOCS Ce 5b.89 27.7% 30.1% 31.9% 34.6% Total Sat.sub.2O TAGs 80.7% 80.2% 79.7% 79.6% AOCS Ce 5b.89 DSC Peak value ° C. 32.7 33.6 34.1 34.5 DSC End Set ° C. 34.0 34.7 35.0 35.4

[0101] Table 7 shows the impact of the St.sub.2O content on the DSC peak value and end set for the melting curve of a chocolate. Higher content of St.sub.2O TAGs gives a DSC higher peak value and end set when the chocolate is melted. To keep a “chocolate like” melting behaviour there will be a maximum level of St.sub.2O TAGs which are accepted of most people. This level is defined to be maximum 30% based on the table 7 results and common knowledge from this business. Even better will be maximum 29% or as close to the used cocoa butter as possible.

Example 4

[0102] Example 4 shows that if milk fat is added in amount of from 0 wt % to 10 wt % to a cocoa butter composition then we simply dilute the POSt, POP, and StOSt and their isomers but the StOSt/POSt ratio are almost constant.

[0103] If it is a clean CBE system without cocoa butter and we mix up to 10% milk fat in the composition the same trend is seen just with a bit more effect on the StOSt/POSt ratio—but not a significant effect.

[0104] Thus, if the amount of added milk fat to the composition is kept relatively low, the bloom stability is considered not to be effected.

TABLE-US-00008 TABLE 8 Sample 1 2 3 4 5 6 Cocoa butter (wt %) 100 95 90 0 0 0 CBE (wt %) 0 0 0 100 95 90 Milk fat (wt %) 0 5 10 0 5 10 POP AOCS Ce 5b-89 15.3% 15.3% 15.2% 35.8% 35.5% 35.1% POSt AOCS Ce 5b-89 38.2% 37.8% 37.3% 10.6% 10.5% 10.6% StOSt AOCS Ce 5b-89 27.6% 27.2% 26.8% 31.7% 31.2% 30.7% stost/post AOCS Ce 5b-89 0.72 0.72 0.72 2.99 2.97 2.90