Many people will soon carry Easter baskets with chocolate sweets so that children and adults enjoy. By itself, black chocolate has health benefits, such as antioxidants that neutralize harmful free radicals. And a report in ACS Food Science & Technology It suggests that packing the sweet gift with pre and probiotics could make it healthier. However, flavoring agents can affect many properties, including moisture level and protein content of the chocolate product.
Probiotics, which are found in fermented foods such as yogurt and kimchi, are living microbes that improve intestinal microbiome, changing balance towards beneficial bacteria and yeasts. They can also relieve digestive problems and reduce inflammation. These active cultures need food and protection to survive the harsh intestinal conditions, so prebiotics, substances such as dietary fibers and oligosaccharides, are sometimes added to products that contain probiotics to create sinbiotic foods. Because chocolate is a pleasure that many people enjoy, researchers have used it to test several pre and probiotic combinations. Some methods to include prebiotics are laborious, so Smriti Gaur and Shubhi Singh explored prebiotics that would not require extensive processing (corn and honey, in chocolate fortified with probiotics.
The team developed five chocolates for study. One contained only basic chocolate ingredients, such as cocoa butter, powdered cocoa and powdered milk. Four different sinbiotic test samples also contained prebiotics (corn and honey), a probiotic (either Lactobacillus Acidophilus LA-14 or Lactobacillus rhamnosus Gg) and a flavor additive (cinnamon or orange). When the researchers examined several properties of chocolate samples, they found that fat levels, which influence the texture and sensation of the mouth, were consistent among the five samples. However, there were differences:
- Aromatizers impacted some characteristics of sinbiotic chocolates. For example, orange flavorings decreased pH, increased moisture and improved protein levels compared to all other samples.
- The four sinbiotic samples had higher antioxidant levels than control.
- Sinbiotic samples had less “complement” compared to control, suggesting that additional ingredients interrupted the structure of chocolate.
Total microbial counts of sinbiotic chocolate samples decreased during storage, but probiotic microbes still show viability after 125 days. This period of time is longer than other researchers have reported when they use different bacteria and prebiotics in chocolates. Finally, when Gaur and Singh exposed symbiotic chocolates to simulated gastrointestinal conditions, probiotics in the samples maintained substantial viability for more than 5 hours.
The researchers also placed a sample of the clothing. “Personally, we enjoyed orange chocolates more, where vibrant citrus notes complement the rich cocoa, and had a slightly softer texture that made each bite feel more luxurious,” says Gaur. “In the future, we are excited to explore additional health benefits of these chocolates while thoroughly investigating their sensory and nutritional profiles, with the aim of creating even more healthy and pleasant pleasure.”
The authors report that there are no external funds for this work.