Developing functional white chocolate by incorporating different forms of EPA and DHA - Effects on product quality

- EPA/DHA sources were added after conching process.
- Free flowing powder form has the highest EPA and DHA stability in white chocolate.
- Microencapsulated form resulted in the highest yield and viscosity values.
- The overall hardness values decreased with EPA/DHA source addition.
- EPA/DHA source addition had slight effect on melting profiles.

In the present study, white chocolate was enriched with different forms (encapsulated form, microalgae containing form) of Eicosa-Pentaenoic-Acid (EPA) and Docosa-Hexaenoic-Acid (DHA). EPA/DHA sources were added after conching process. Main EPA/DHA percentage of the sources changed between 5.80-38.7 and 8.50-70.5 g/100 g, respectively in total fatty acid content. EPA and DHA contents of the chocolate samples increased to 226.8 and 54.3 mg/25 g chocolate, respectively, in a consequence of enrichment. Water activity (0.290-0.340), hardness (5.31-7.97 N), yield stress (2.09-3.87 Pa), plastic viscosity (1.06-1.62 Pa s), Tend (31.4-33.6 °C), energy required for complete melting (ΔH) (9.53-11.3 J/g) properties of the samples were affected significantly (P < 0.05), however these effects were tolerable and in narrow ranges. The use of EPA/DHA in different forms and origins affected the colour saturation, after taste and overall acceptance of the samples (P < 0.05). The findings of this study showed that it is possible to produce white chocolate fortified with EPA/DHA from microalgae origin and in free flowing powder form with desired quality. According to the results, it can be concluded that white chocolate can be used as a carrier of bioactive substances which are heat sensitive.