Composition and Structure of Fat Bloom in Untempered Chocolate

Abstract

ABSTRACTIt is generally accepted that visual fat bloom is caused by the separation of cocoa butter toward the surface. However, this is not always true for all types of bloom. One type of fat bloom, which can occur due to lack of tempering, has still not been completely elucidated. We performed a compositional and structural study of this type of fat bloom in plain chocolate. More specifically, we performed (1) an investigation of its crystallographic properties, (2) investigation of fat content, (3) analysis of the composition of triacylglycerol (TAG), (4) stereomicroscopic observations, and (5) observation and elemental analysis using a scanning electron microscope with an energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectrometer (SEM‐EDS). In the bloomed chocolate, the fat content in the light brown phase was lower than that in the black phase. Concerning fat composition, the content of sn‐1,3‐saturated acyl, sn‐2‐oleoyl glycerols (Sat‐O‐Sat type TAGs) in the light brown phase was lower. The lower fat content is thought to result in its lighter color. The results of our composition analysis and morphological observations suggest that the mechanism of the bloom generation due to nontempering involves not the separation of fat toward the surface but the crystallization of fat which leads to withdrawal of fat from the vicinity of the growing crystal, leading to differences in fat content.