Physical Chemical Properties of Shea/Cocoa Butter Blends and their Potential for Chocolate Manufacture

Abstract

Cocoa butter (CB) is the preferred fat for chocolates and confections. However, for technological and economic reasons, there have been strong efforts for partially replacing it. As shea butter (SB) has become an important natural source of symmetrical stearic-rich triacylglycerols (TAG), the aim of this work was to study physical chemical behavior of blends of CB and SB and the dynamic mechanical and polymorphic behaviors of chocolates prepared with these systems as added fat. The compatibility of SB and CB blends was studied using the isosolid diagram. Data showed that softening occurred due to both dilution effects and a slight eutectic formation. Chocolates formulated with a fat phase consisting in CB, or SB, or blends with 10, 20, or 30 wt.% SB in CB showed different polymorphic behaviors during storage. The polymorphic transition from β 2 to β 1 occurred to a greater extent with increasing content of SB in formulation. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) results agree with X-ray findings. E′ modulus significantly increased during storage most likely due to formation of β 1 form. As shown by Grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS) studies, crystals preferred growing on the chocolate surface than on bulk chocolate. However, even after a year at 18°C, chocolates had good appearance indicating that SB was a good CB extender.