Delivering functional ingredients in chocolate – the effect of oral preference on chocolate sensory perception

Abstract

Chocolate has specific rheological behaviour during oral processing that delivers its distinct sensory characteristics. When incorporating functional or flavouring ingredients into chocolate, these properties must be maintained to meet consumer expectation. Water-soluble and fat-soluble ingredients have a potential effect on the properties of chocolate; therefore, successfully adding functional supplements in this medium can have challenges. Functional foods are a new product category that offers improvements in targeted physiological functions to consumers. However, modern functional foods (low sugar and fat) need modifications in recipe formulation which impacts on the product’s texture and flavour release. What is more, flavour perception may itself be significantly influenced by the consumer’s individual oral preference (OP)…...