Aplicação da técnica de calorimetria exploratória diferencial em amostras de chocolate para determinar ponto de fusão e cristalização

Abstract

Thermal processing is one of the main operations in the food industry, so it is very important to know the effects of heat on the various constituents present in food in order to minimize the inherent quality loss of the product or to optimize process conditions. Cocoa butter is the most costly and extremely important ingredient in chocolate formulation as it is responsible for product quality factors, such as hardness, mechanical strength sufficient to generate a snap, shine and complete and rapid melting body temperature, with aroma and flavor detachment during the tasting. The melting point of the crystalline forms of cocoa butter indicates its stability, therefore, a need was found for a melting point study of different chocolates and chocolate flavored toppings, and also a comparative with the chocolate before and after appropriate re-crystallization, to know the thermal behavior of the chocolate. One of the techniques used for the physical and thermal characterization of cocoa butter and chocolate includes Differential Exploration Calorimetry (DSC) to quantify enthalpy variations with temperature. From the thermal curves obtained by the technique it was possible to observe the similarity between the thermal behavior of the chocolates and the cocoa butter. The same behavior was observed in the chocolates coverage, evidencing that the total or partial substitute fats of the cocoa butter, confer physical characteristics similar to the products formulated with it.