The Effects of Using Artificial Sweeteners and Coffee Grounds in Chocolate Filling on Quality Characteristics and Glycemic Index

Abstract

Chocolate is restricted for obese and diabetic patients due to high in sugar contents. We investigated shell-chocolate fillings with low calorie content and low glycemic indexes using alternative sweeteners such as tagatose and xylose and adding coffee grounds. Chocolate filling was made with sugar, cacao and butter in the original recipe. Sugar was substituted with tagatose or xylose and 3% coffee ground was added in each chocolate filling and substituted for 3% of the cocoa. Water retention and spreadability of the chocolate filling was significantly higher in the tagatose+coffee ground group in comparison to the sugar. In the chromaticity test, chocolate filling made with tagatose was darker in comparison to that made with sugar: brightness (L) was lower and redness (a) and yellowness (b) were higher than the sugar filling. Sensory evaluation revealed that chocolate filling made with tagatose had high score in 4 categories such as taste, smell, texture of foreign substance, overall acceptance. After consuming 60 g of the chocolate with different fillings, blood glucose levels of subjects at 1 and 2 h were significantly lower in the tagatose and tagatose+coffee ground groups than the other groups. In conclusion, using tagatose as the sweetener in chocolate filling has a beneficial effect on lowering blood glucose levels and increasing water retention, spreadability and sensory scores. Coffee ground did not have additive effect on quality of chocolate filling and blood glucose levels. These results indicate that shell chocolate made with tagatose can be used as a snack for diabetic patients.