The Comparison of the Effectiveness of Cocoa Butter (CB) and Cocoa Butter Alternatives (CBA) in Chocolate Manufacture

This study aimed at (a) comparing the effectiveness of the use of Cocoa Butter (CB) and Cocoa Butter Alternatives (CBA) on food products and (b) measuring the effectiveness of the sub-groups of the Cocoa Butter Alternatives. In this study, the researchers used Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with the Partial Least Square (PLS) approach. The analysis showed that (a) CB was more effective in the utilization than CBA and (b) after comparing sub-groups of the CBA examined in this study, Cocoa Butter Substitute (CBS) was more effective than Cocoa Butter Replacer (CBR) and Cocoa Butter Equivalent (CBE). This study is a practical recommendation for the use of CBA so that it can be widely applied in the chocolate industry.

A Review on Cocoa Butter Alternatives in Chocolate Preparation

Cocoa butter naturally occurs in cocoa bean. It is present about 50% of cocoa nib. It is highly resistant to oxidation due to presence of high level of natural tocopherol. It is brittle at room temperature and its melting point is between 34o C to 38o C. But, cocoa butter is expensive and its price is subjected to large fluctuations. That’s why some alternatives for cocoa butters are produced, such as cocoa – butter equivalents (CBEs , like from enzymatic inter-esterification of tea seed oil and fatty acid methyl esters), cocoa-butter substitute (CBSs, esterifies propoxylatedglycerin containing acyl groups derived from saturated linear fatty acids, at least 50 moles percent of the total acyl groups are used ) and cocoa-butter replacers (CBRs, like evaluation of milk fat fractional and modified techniques for making CBR.) Their composition according to triglycerides, fatty acids, sterols and other unsaponifiable components are discussed in this paper. Coconut oil, non-lauric contained fats like palm oil, soybean oil, rapeseed oil, can be used as replacer. These alternatives have various advantages; it improves fat stability, reduces fat migration, and incorporates softness to the product. As the alternatives do not require tempering, it is easier to achieve glassy texture. This work reviews on the theory of the compositional data of vegetable oils, and fats which are used as cocoa – butter alternatives in the production of chocolate.