Novel Trends in Evaluation and Control of Fat-bloom Occurrence at Chocolate Surfaces

Abstract

Fat blooming problems are the main causes of deterioration of surface roughness and internal textures of chocolate, leading to the decrease in the quality of chocolate products such as fine melting and flavor release. The fat bloom occurs during the long-period storage after production processes and its detailed features diversely vary in accordance with the structures of chocolate items and the confectionery fat materials employed. This review summarizes in the first the basic mechanisms of the fat bloom formation and modern techniques to monitor the occurrence of the fat bloom. Then, the novel techniques of fat bloom monitoring using laser scanning confocal microscopy, and the ideas and methods to prevent the fat blooming of chocolate using cocoa butter alternatives, all of which have recently been investigated by the authors.