Chocolate as Carrier to Deliver Bioactive Ingredients: Current Advances and Future Perspectives

Consumer demand for healthier foods with improved taste and convenience has urged the food industry to develop functional foods added with bioactive ingredients that can supplement basic nutrition (food supplement) or exert a pharmacological effect (nutraceuticals). Chocolate could be used as an ideal carrier to deliver bioactive ingredients, mainly due to its high acceptability by consumers. However, a drawback of using chocolate as functional food is its high sugar content, which impedes its commercialization with the diabetic population. Therefore, there is need to develop sugar-free chocolate formulations added with bioactive ingredients. Nevertheless, sugar replacement and bioactive ingredients addition is a major technological challenge that affects texture, rheology, and sensory properties of chocolate. This review is designed as a practical guide for researchers and food industries to develop the next generation of functional chocolates. Different functional chocolate formulations, including sugar-free, are reviewed as potential carriers for the delivery of bioactive compounds. The physicochemical properties and sensory acceptability of the functional chocolates presented are also highlighted. Finally, future perspectives, such as the use of nanotechnology to improve the bioaccessibility and bioavailability of active ingredients, as well as the need for clinical trials to validate the pharmacological effect of functional chocolates, are also discussed.