Production Of Cocoa Butter Equivalent From Blending Of Illipé Butter And Palm Mid-fraction

Cocoa butter（CB）is the most valuable fat ingredient in chocolate products owing to its unique fatty acid（FA）and triacylglycerol（TAG）profiles,which provide specific physical characteristics in chocolate.Recently,the fluctuation in productivity of CB and the increasing demand for chocolate consumption has driven the price of CB continues to increase.This has led some manufacturers to look for CB alternatives that can partially or fully replace CB.Cocoa butter equivalent（CBE）was prepared from illipébutter（IB）and palm mid-fraction（PMF）blends in different weight ratios.The solid fat content（SFC）,compatibility,crystallization/melting thermograms,and crystal microstructure of the blends were studied.Softening occurred with IB/PMF blends due to eutectic formation and resulted in blend 75/25（IB/PMF）exhibiting SFC profile and crystallization/melting behavior comparable to CB and hence it was selected to be used as a CBE.The CBE was fully compatible with CB and displayed a similar polymorphic structure（β₂）and isothermal crystallization curve to CB.When it was used to partially replace CB in chocolate（5%wt of the finished product）,the hardness,SFC,and bloom formation behavior of the chocolate were not significantly different from the chocolate made with CB.Overall,the 75/25 blend met all the criteria to be considered as CBE;hence,it can be used as an alternative to commercially available CBE.