Development of Sugar Free and Fortified Chocolates with D-Optimal Design Approach

The increasing numbers of overweight or chronically obese individuals have led the market to produce sweet snacks and desserts that are low in calories, low in fat or low in sugar. Sugar replacers have low calorific value and lower glycaemic index as compared to sucrose which not only helps in controlling weight but also is safe for diabetics. The study is aimed to develop a sugar free chocolate by using a combination of various zero calorie sweeteners i.e., stevia, isomalt and erythritol through response surface methodology (RSM). The final run optimized by RSM consists of 21.9g cocoa butter, 5.1g erythritol, 0.10g stevia and 14.9g isomalt. Organoleptic evaluation of modified chocolates was evaluated using 9 point hedonic scale for the parameters like, appearance, color, aroma, taste, texture, mouthfeel, aftertaste and overall acceptability. The overall acceptability of sugar free chocolates was found to be 8.9. Further, the fortification of chocolates was done with the help of vitamins and minerals rich fruit powders such as beetroot powder, jamun seed powder and pink pithaya powder (dragon fruit). Vitamins and minerals analysis was performed for sugar free chocolate fortified with beetroot. Shelf-life study of sugar free chocolate fortified with beetroot was carried out.

Fermentation conditions for mannitol biosynthesis by lactobacillus fermentum hf08

Mannitol is a six-carbon sugar alcohol that is claimed to have several health promoting effects (low-caloric, low-glycemic, low-insulinemic, anticariogenic, and prebiotic). Due to its low hygroscopic character, it widely used in food and pharmaceutical industries. In food industry, mannitol is used as sugar replacers because of their taste and sweetness. It is nonmetabolizable sweeteners which do not affect insulin levels making it applicable in diabetic food products. Among mannitol production methods including: chemical, enzyme and fermentation, the conversion of fructose to mannitol by lactic acid bacteria fermentation is the best way because of no requirement for highly purified substrates, making pure product and easy to produce in industry scale. There are many groups of microorganisms capable of fermenting mannitol biosynthesis, including lactic acid bacteria group, because of their conversion of fructose to mannitol by mannitol dehydrogenase with high mannitol content and low byproducts. In the study, we researched on conditions of fermentation for mannitol biosynthesis by Lactobacillus fermentum HF08. Mannitol production of the strain was reached to the maximum 93.1-93.2 g/l after 48 hours of fermentation in an appropriate medium (g/l): pepton 7.0; glucose/fructose 50/100; yeast extract 2.0; K2HPO4 2.0; MgSO4.5H2O 0.2; MnSO4 0.01. The pH of the medium fermentation for the mannitol production was 5.0-5.5. Suitable temperature for mannitol production was 35-37oC.