Product Containing Cocoa and One or More Sweetening Agents, Method For The Production of Such Products, in Particular Chocolate Products or Chocolate-Like Products, Use of Products of Said Type, For Example To Make Chocolate Products or Chocolate Like Products

Abstract

The invention relates to products for the production of chocolate products and chocolate-like products, whereby sweetening and/or mass-providing filling substances obtained from the cocoa fruit pulp or also from the placenta and/or the cocoa fruit shell replace, either wholly or in part, the conventional sweetening and mass-providing filling components, in particular sugar, in such products. The invention relates not only to a suitable process for the production of such products, but also to the use of such products.

Claims

1. A product comprising cacao and one or more sweeteners, in which the sweetener or all the sweeteners are wholly or partly replaced by constituents obtained from parts of the cacao fruit, namely from the cacao fruit pulp, with or without the placenta as part of the pulp, and/or by constituents obtained from the cacao fruit shell, for sweetening and for enriching with fibrous substances.

2. The product according to claim 1, wherein the sweetening constituent originating from the cacao fruit consists of the juice or a juice concentrate from the cacao fruit pulp.

3. The product according to claim 1, wherein the product includes added fillers obtained from the cacao fruit pulp (3) and/or the cacao fruit shell, especially fibrous substances in the form of dry powders and/or in the form of moist powders that have swollen with incorporation of water and/or in paste form.

4. The product according to claim 3, wherein the filler consists of constituents of the inner layers of the cacao fruit shell endocarp and mesocarp.

5. The product according to claim 1, wherein it is a product having a calorie density lower by 10% to 50%, corresponding to 60 to 300 kcal/100 g of product, preferably 15% to 33%, corresponding to 90 to 198 kcal/100 g of product, compared to conventional chocolate products or chocolate analog products.

6. A process for producing chocolate products or chocolate analog products, in which the constituents obtained from the cacao fruit shell and/or the cacao fruit pulp for sweetening and/or enrichment with solids are introduced homogeneously into the chocolate product or chocolate analog product.

7. The process according to claim 6, wherein juice is obtained from the cacao fruit pulp and then processed further to give a concentrate and mixed homogeneously into a chocolate mass or a chocolate analog mass.

8. The process according to claim 7, wherein juice is obtained from the cacao fruit pulp by means of a thermal and/or mechanical and/or enzymatic operation or treated and added homogeneously in a formulation-specific manner to the chocolate mass or chocolate analog mass.

9. The process according to claim 6, wherein fibers are obtained in the form of concentrate, solids or powder from parts of the cacao fruit, namely the cacao fruit shell and/or the cacao fruit pulp, by wet comminution and subsequent drying and these are added homogeneously to the chocolate product or chocolate analog product.

10. The process according to claim 7, wherein the sweetening juice concentrate is obtained from the cacao fruit pulp by means of membrane separation methods or vacuum evaporation with removal of water.

11. The process according to claim 6, wherein fiber powders obtained from the cacao fruit pulp or parts of the cacao fruit shell of the cacao fruit are incorporated into chocolate products or chocolate analog products by mixing these powders into preliminary cacao mass/milk powder mixtures, where the latter may also include an added proportion of sugar, and this mixture is first pre-rolled on a preliminary roll mill and then finely comminuted on a multi-roll mill, especially five-roll mill or another comminution apparatus, to particle sizes ×90.3 (90% by volume percentile of the particle volume distribution) of ≤100 micrometers, preferably ≤30 micrometers, and hence what is called a main mixed phase II is produced, which, in a subsequent step, in accordance with the conventional chocolate production process, is dry conched and deagglomerated, and subjected to preliminary aroma formation.

12. The process according to claim 6, wherein the sweetening juice concentrate obtained from the cacao fruit pulp or from powders produced therefrom by drying is first incorporated by fine dispersion in a cacao butter melt by means of dispersing apparatuses, preferably rotor/stator dispersing systems, and a W/O emulsion is produced proceeding from concentrates, or a suspension system as what is called main mixed phase I proceeding from powders.

13. The process according to claim 11, wherein main mixed phases I and II are combined in a second conching process step downstream of the dry coating process of main mixed phase II, and they are mixed with addition of 0.1% to 1% by weight, preferably 0.3% to 0.5% by weight, of lecithin in such a way as to achieve product homogeneity without agglomerate formation ≥100 micrometers, preferably ≥30 micrometers.

14. The process according to claim 13, wherein the homogeneous complete chocolate mixture taken from the second conching process step, consisting of main mixed phases I and II, in subsequent process steps, in a comparable manner with the conventional chocolate production process, is tempered, introduced into molds or extruded and subsequently cooled, demolded and packed.

15. The use of a product as chocolate product or chocolate analog product according to claim, consisting of cacao components and sweeteners, where the latter have been partly or fully produced from parts of the cacao fruit, namely of the cacao fruit shell and/or of the cacao fruit pulp, and/or, in addition to their sweetening property, also result in enrichment of the chocolate product or chocolate analog product with fibrous substances.

Description

[0054] The drawing illustrates the invention by way of example—partly in schematic form. The figures show:

[0055] FIG. 1 a cacao fruit, partly in cross section, partly in longitudinal section;

[0056] FIG. 2 components and microstructures of product subsystems referred to as main mixed phase I and main mixed phase II, which, in the overall mixture, form the structure of the chocolate or chocolate analog masses of the invention;

[0057] FIG. 3 schematic diagram of process steps (a-n) and resulting structure states in the production process for the chocolate/chocolate analog product systems of the invention, taking account of the separate production of the two main mixed phases I and II of the invention and the combination thereof in a gentle mixing/conching process (j) and

[0058] FIG. 4 an apparatus for production of a chocolate product or chocolate analog products using constituents from the cacao fruit.

[0059] The cacao fruit 1 is gherkin-shaped and about 15 to 25 cm long and 7 to 10 cm thick, surrounded by a 10 to 15 mm-thick cacao fruit shell 2, and bears, embedded in fruit pulp 3, twenty-five to fifty seeds, the cacao beans 4. Only the latter have been used to date as raw material for cacao or chocolate products or chocolate analog masses.

[0060] Fibrous materials are to be found, for example, on the inside 5 of the cacao fruit shell 2.

[0061] The chocolate product of the invention or chocolate analog product includes a concentrate of cacao fruit pulp 3 or cacao fruit pulp juice in fluid or semi-fluid form or in powder form in cacao butter or in a fat mixture of relevance to chocolate analog products. Concentrates of this kind are produced either from cacao fruit pulp juice or a mixture thereof with cellulose fiber components from the cacao fruit pulp or fibrous materials from the inside 5 of the cacao fruit shell 2, and partly or fully replace the sugar as sweetening components.

[0062] The aforementioned cellulose fiber components from the cacao fruit pulp 3 or the inside 5 of the cacao fruit shell 2 in powder form are a natural dry food suspension which can partly or even completely replace the sugar in chocolate products or chocolate analog products, even in its conventional property as bulking agent. The structure of such a chocolate product of the invention or chocolate analog product is shown in detail by FIG. 2.

[0063] The cacao fruit pulp 3 and/or portions, preferably internal portions, of the cacao fruit shell 2 are used to produce, by means of wet comminution in a wet mill, for example in a disk mill, a pasty, water-continuous, fine-particulate suspension of about ×50.3≤about 50 to 100 micrometers. This is subsequently concentrated and produced for particular rheological properties, for example zero viscosity of about 40 mPas-1 Pas and water activity (aw value) by gentle evaporation, for example vacuum evaporation, at about a maximum of 60 to 80 degrees, in the case of more liquid concentrates, or in a first concentration step, optionally also by means of membrane methods.

[0064] According to the invention, the resulting water-continuous concentrate is finely dispersed in a cocoa butter-fat mixture melt and hence a W/O emulsion structure is created. This is referred to hereinafter as sweet fruit emulsion and constitutes what is called main mixed phase I. The cocoa butter-fat mixture melt used here may optionally have been conventionally pre-crystallized/tempered or preferably converted to a pre-crystallized state with a seed crystal suspension—typically including βV and/or βVI crystals. In the process of the invention, rather than the pre-crystallized cocoa butter-fat mixture melt, this may also be used without precrystallization. For production of the main mixed phase I, preference is given to using rotor-stator dispersing apparatuses or kneading apparatuses.

[0065] Preferably, in the production process of the invention, moreover, a cacao butter/fat mixture melt with cacao mass and/or milk powder components dispersed therein, and especially powders composed of fiber constituents of the cacao fruit shell 2 and/or the cacao fruit pulp 3 (=cacao fiber powder) dispersed therein, is produced as what is called main mixed phase II.

[0066] What is called the cacao fiber powder is produced by dry comminution of sufficiently predried cacao fruit pulp 3 and/or internal cacao fruit shell fraction, for example by means of a pinned-disk mill, impact mill, ball mill or roll mill. As the case may be, a wet comminution and subsequent drying is also an option.

[0067] In a further execution of the invention, the wet-comminuted fibers, without afterdrying, can also be mixed directly into the cacao butter/fat mixture melt, which affords the particular advantage of additional water incorporation into the product via the water component absorbed into the fibers by swelling thereof.

[0068] In accordance with the process steps in the conventional chocolate production process, the mixing and comminution of the main mixed phase II is preferably effected in preliminary roll mills and five-roll mills and a downstream dry conching process step (cf. FIGS. 3 (h) and (i) and 4 (11) to (13)). In this connection, dry conching means without further fat enrichment/addition (see conventional chocolate production).

[0069] The flow properties of main mixed phase II depend on:

[0070] (A) the water content of the fibrous raw material components from cacao fruit shell 2 and/or cacao fruit pulp 3 (cf. route A (“wet method”) and route B (“dry method”) in FIGS. 4, (7) to (9)),

[0071] (B) the particle or agglomerate size distribution achieved in the roll comminution steps (cf. FIGS. 4, (11) and (12)) and the first conching process step (dry conching, cf. FIG. 4, (13)), and

[0072] (C) the cacao butter content in the cacao mass used.

[0073] The two main mixed phases I and II are preferably mixed after dry conching of main mixed phase II (see first conching process step) in a second conching process step, which is designed to be and performed in a more mechanically gentle manner than the first conching process step.

[0074] This is implemented by:

[0075] (a) reduced conching speed,

[0076] (b) increased shear gap width between rotating mixing/kneading tool and apparatus wall,

[0077] (c) “fat enrichment” and associated liquefaction of the dry-conched main mixed phase II, by the addition of the fat-rich main mixed phase I in the molten state of the fat (for example cacao butter), and by

[0078] (d) further addition of emulsifier (for example lecithin).

[0079] The resulting free-flowing product, according to the formulation and/or process-based circumstances, is tempered and either cast in shape or shaped by means of nozzles, and packed after cooling or demolding (see FIG. 3, (k) to (n); FIGS. 4 (6), (14) to (16)).

[0080] In this regard, FIG. 3 gives a detailed schematic overview of this above-described procedure.

[0081] Possible emulsifiers envisaged for the generation of the W/O emulsion for production of the main mixed phase I are, for example, lecithin (e) and/or PGPR (polyglycerol polyricinoleate) with a proportion by mass of about 0.1% to 1% by volume, preferably 0.3-0.5%, in the cacao butter/fat mixture (O phase).

[0082] In a further-developed embodiment of the process of the invention, an O1/W/O2 emulsion is generated, wherein polyunsaturated oils with cacao antioxidants (for example flavanols: catechin epicatechin) dissolved/dispersed therein and fat-soluble vitamins are optionally added to the inner oil phase (O1).

[0083] In the second conching process, as a measure of gentle treatment in the mixing of the main mixed phases I and II, the homogeneity of the structure of the resulting mixture formed from main mixed phases I and II is used. In the event of mechanical overstress of the main mixed phase I and II mixed system structure, for example, increased interaction of the dispersed fruit juice concentrate droplets from main mixed phase I with comminuted fiber particles from main mixed phase II is to be expected, which can lead to formation of relatively large agglomerates. If such agglomerate diameters remain less than about 100 micrometers, preferably less than 30 micrometers, the second conching process step is considered to be sufficiently gentle. In terms of flow mechanistic detail, this means that exceedance of critical shear stress limits has been avoided, which would lead to an unwanted change in the resulting chocolate structure as a result of agglomerate formation from particulate solid constituents and the juice/concentrate emulsion droplets.

[0084] The features described in the patent claims and in the description and apparent from the drawing may each be essential to the implementation of the invention individually or in any combinations.