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.