Red Palm Oil Boosts Chocolate Antioxidants

Chocolate spread sounds good on its own, but chocolate spread with nutritional value sounds even better. Researchers at Alexandria University found that replacing butter fat with red palm olein (RPOL) in chocolate spread increased the spread’s nutritive value. The researchers wanted to formulate a functional chocolate spread, as well as test its sensory qualities and shelf life over a 6-month period.

For the study, the researchers formulated chocolate spreads with red palm olein replacing butter fat at 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% levels. Sensory evaluation revealed that chocolate spread formulated with 20% RPOL/80% butter fat was as well accepted as the control chocolate spread with 100% butter fat. The chocolate spread with 20% RPOL had 3.7 times the tocopherols and tocotrienols of the control chocolate spread, and 19.8 times the carotenes.

The chocolate spreads made with RPOL were also tested for stability at both room temperature and in refrigeration. Researchers found that the RPOL spreads could be stored at room temperature for 6 months without any deteriorative effects on sensory quality. However, antioxidant levels decreased as the storage period extended at both room temperature and in refrigeration.

The researchers noted that, although addition of RPOL increased nutritive value, it also increased total saturated fat content by 8.8 percent, and total polyunsaturated fat content by almost 45 percent.