Anti-blooming effect of maltitol and tagatose as sugar substitutes for chocolate making

- We analyzed physical and sensory properties of chocolates made with sugar and alternative sweeteners by inducing blooming.
- Whiteness of chocolates significantly increased as blooming progressed.
- Hardness, chewiness, sweet taste, overall flavor and cocoa flavor were on the decline with the progress of blooming.
- Tagatose was more effective than sugar in enduring the blooming phenomenon.

This study was conducted to analyze the blooming characteristics of chocolates containing maltitol and tagatose (d-tagatose) as alternative sweeteners in terms of their physical and sensory properties to determine the blooming progress of each chocolate and its typical characteristics. In the X-ray diffraction analysis, tagatose-added chocolate showed the slowest change in fat crystal formation. In the analysis of the surface characteristics of chocolates, the number of white fat crystals, the Hunter scale values, and the whiteness index increased as blooming proceeded. In the results of the sensory evaluation the bloom area, bloom color, crumbliness, grittiness, bitterness of taste, and powderiness of after-feel increased, but hardness, chewiness, sweetness of taste, overall flavor intensity, and cocoa flavor decreased as blooming proceeded (p < 0.05). The overall results indicated that tagatose-added chocolate showed the lowest blooming progress. These results presented basic information regarding making chocolate with anti-diabetic sweeteners that have good stability for bloom formation.