Abstract
Cocoa and dark chocolate have a wide variety of powerful antioxidants and other nutrients that can positively affect human health. Probiotic dark chocolate has the potential to be a new product in the growing number of functional foods. In this study, encapsulated potential probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum 564 and commercial probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum 299v were added in the production of dark chocolate. The results show very good survival of probiotic bacteria after production and during storage, reaching 108cfu/g in the first 60 days and over 106cfu/g up to 180 days. No statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) in chemical composition and no major differences in the volatile profiles between control and experimental chocolate samples were observed, indicating no impact of probiotic bacteria on compositional and sensory characteristics of dark chocolate. The sensory evaluation of control and both probiotic dark chocolate samples showed excellent sensory quality after 60 and 180 days of storage, demonstrating that probiotics did not affect aroma, texture and appearance of chocolate. Due to a high viability of bacterial cells and acceptable sensory properties, it can be concluded that encapsulated probiotics Lb. plantarum 564 and Lb. plantarum 299v could be successfully used in the production of probiotic dark chocolate.
Highlights
Specialized chocolate shops and supermarkets have a wide range of different chocolates but probiotic chocolate remains a novel product
This study demonstrated that encapsulated spray dried probiotic bacteria
Lb. plantarum 299v and potential probiotic Lb. planatrum 564) had very good viability in dark chocolate during storage period of 180 days at 20 ◦ C, while it significantly dropped after further storage of
Summary
Specialized chocolate shops and supermarkets have a wide range of different chocolates but probiotic chocolate remains a novel product. Probiotic bacteria are usually delivered within dairy products, such as fermented milks and cheeses, where bacteria perform a major role in the development of the final product characteristics. Lactose intolerance, allergenic milk proteins [1,2] and high fat content are the major drawbacks related to the intake of dairy products, especially for health-conscious consumers. Required refrigeration and relatively short shelf-life of dairy products represent limitations in their use. In this context, the evolution of a new probiotic product could be of significant importance. Possemiers et al [10] revealed that chocolate was a better probiotic carrier than dairy products for intestinal delivery, because bacterial
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