Sugar-reduced chocolate with oat flour just as tasty as original, study finds

The key to creating scrumptious chocolate with much less added sugar is oat flour, in keeping with a brand new research by Penn State researchers. In a blind style check not too long ago revealed within the Journal of Food Science, 25% reduced-sugar candies made with oat flour had been rated equally, and in some instances most well-liked, to common chocolate. The findings present a brand new possibility for reducing chocolate’s sugar content material whereas sustaining its texture and taste.

“We had been in a position to present that there’s a vary in which you’ll be able to handle a large discount in added sugar, and other people will not discover and do not care, by way of liking,” mentioned John Hayes, professor of meals science at Penn State and corresponding creator on the research. “We’re by no means going to make chocolate wholesome as a result of it is an indulgence, however we are able to efficiently take out a few of the sugar for customers who’re attempting to cut back their consumption of added sugars.”

Hayes defined that chocolate is about half sugar by weight, with the remaining being fats and cocoa solids, so decreasing the quantity of sugar by any quantity can drastically alter the feel and taste profile of the chocolate.

“The perform of sugar in chocolate is each sweetness and bulking, so if we take that sugar out, now we have to place one thing else in that can do the job simply as nicely, or customers will discover,” mentioned Gregory Ziegler, distinguished professor of meals science at Penn State and co-author on the research.

Ziegler had the concept of testing two totally different grains, rice and oats, which comprise high-quality granular starches as replacements for sugar in chocolate. The top end result would nonetheless comprise carbs, which finally break down into sugar, however the pace of absorption could also be slower.

“Starch remains to be a carbohydrate, so it isn’t decrease energy, however there’s an total discount within the added sugar content material, which has potential well being advantages,” Ziegler mentioned.

The staff performed two totally different blind style exams utilizing darkish chocolate made with various ranges of sugars and grain flour.

The primary check, performed with 66 individuals, was designed to guage whether or not customers would discover a distinction between six types of candies: a management with a standard 54% stage of sugar, 4 sugar-reduced variations with reductions of 25% or 50% sugar and additions of oat or rice flour, and one 54% sugar chocolate with lowered refining time to check if the grinding time would have an effect on the feel.

Customers rated the 25% sugar-reduced candies and the lowered refining time chocolate much like the blind management, however the 50% sugar discount was rated considerably totally different in each texture and taste. The staff concluded this was primarily resulting from texture, as individuals reported the rice flour chocolate contained “a chalkier texture,” whereas oat-flour-containing candies had been described as “smoother, softer and creamier.”

The second blind style check concerned 90 individuals and gauged shopper acceptability for 25% lowered sugar candies made with oat and rice flour in comparison with common chocolate, the management, made with 54% sugar.

Every participant was served one sq. of every chocolate for a complete of three samples and was requested to fee total liking, taste liking, texture liking and sweetness liking. The rice flour candies had been appreciated considerably lower than the conventional chocolate management, however the oat flour pattern didn’t differ from the management—and, in some instances, was rated barely higher.

“Our outcomes counsel we are able to in the reduction of 25% of added sugar to chocolate, successfully decreasing the entire sugar by 13.5%, if we substitute oat flour,” mentioned Kai Kai Ma, a doctoral candidate in meals science at Penn State and co-author on the paper. “That addition of oat flour is unlikely to meaningfully impression shopper acceptability, which is nice information.”

Hayes, who additionally directs Penn State’s Sensory Analysis Middle, mentioned he plans to succeed in out to a few of his former college students who at the moment are working within the chocolate trade to share the findings and hopefully spur new types of sugar-reduced candies by offering a proof-of-concept that oat flour can successfully do the job of added sugars.

“I am a giant believer in assembly customers the place they’re,” Hayes mentioned. “We have tried for 40 years to inform individuals to eat much less sugar, and it does not work as a result of individuals need to eat what they need to eat. So as an alternative of creating individuals really feel responsible, we have to meet individuals the place they’re and determine tips on how to make meals higher whereas nonetheless preserving the pleasure from meals.”