Omega-3 fatty acids enriched chocolate spreads using soybean and coconut oils

Chocolate spreads were developed by incorporating two different soybean oil margarines, fat phases prepared using 85 % soybean oil (M1) and 1:1 blend of soybean oil and coconut oil (M2) with commercial palm stearin. Eight formulations were tried by varying skim milk powder (SMP)/fluid skimmed milk (FSM), type of fats (M1, M2, a commercial margarine and a table spread), sugar and cocoa powder and their quality characteristics were compared with a commercial hazelnut cocoa spread. The moisture and fat content were 5-6.1 % and 31.4-32.8 % for formulations with SMP and 21.5-24.7 % and 15.6-21.4 % respectively for those with FSM. Rheological studies of FSM spreads showed higher G″ value (loss modulus) than G' (storage modulus) indicating better spreadability. Descriptive sensory analysis revealed that the products had acceptability score of 8.3 to 10.5 (maximum score: 15). Fat extracted from spreads prepared using M1 and M2 was found to contain 43.9 and 22.3 % linoleic acid and 2.1 and 4.4 % linolenic acid respectively, were free from trans fat while the commercial hazelnut spread had 9.8 % linoleic acid but did not contain linolenic acid. Hence, the developed chocolate spreads have the potential to overcome ω-3 deficiency, ω-6/ω-3 imbalance and to enhance the health standard of people.