Aplicação da espectroscopia de infravermelho próximo para tentativa de se determinar fraudes em chocolates

Abstract

Cocoa butter is the most significant ingredient in the formulation and manufacture of chocolate. In addition to being economically the most expensive ingredient, an additional amount of butter should be added to the chocolate formulation. The study of oil and fat modification techniques for total or partial substitution of cocoa butter comes to the attention of the chocolate industry. When the butter is replaced by a fat substitute, the chocolate ceases to be considered noble and happens to be termed as hydrogenated chocolate or toppings. To check for scams in chocolates, some destructive analyzes may be employed. In order to find an alternative that has a faster response and requires less preparation of the sample, this work had as main objective to determine if the NIR methodology is able to differentiate samples of noble chocolates and toppings. Near infrared spectroscopy associated with chemotherapy has been employed for the analysis of different samples. The near infrared spectra were acquired in the range of 900 to 1700 cm -1. The use of the near infrared was able to separate the samples with respect to the amount of cocoa present in the sample. However, it was unable to determine if the sample was closer to cocoa butter or vegetable fat.