Development Of Chocolate Bar Mixed With Dried Fruits

Abstract

This research was divided into two stages, the first stage was determination of the optimum temperature and second stage was formulation of chocolate bar mixed with dried fruit. The first stage was aimed to study the effect of hot air temperatures on phytochemical compounds, antioxidant capacity, and sensory acceptance of dried fruits. Fruits (Banana, Pineapple, and Plum) were dried at various temperatures: 70, 80, and 90ºC for 3 hours, then extracted, measured, and compared on their phytochemical, antioxidant capacity, and sensory properties. An increase in hot air temperature decreased vitamin C significantly (p<0.05), while total phenolic, total flavonoid, and antioxidant capacity increased significantly (p<0.05). In contrast, higher temperatures resulted in lower sensory acceptance. The nine scales of hedonic scores were used to evaluate consumer acceptance of dried fruits, where 1 indicate dislike extremely and 9 indicate like extremely. The high hedonic scores showed by dried fruits those dried at 80ºC. Therefore, that temperature was choosen to produce dried fruit for chocolate bar. The second stage was aimed to develop the optimum formula of chocolate bar mixed with dried fruits. The number of fruit which added to chocolate paste was determined using a mixture design. The nine scales of hedonic scores were also used to evaluate some sensory attributes of chocolate bar, and then Statistica7 software was used to see the effect of formulation on consumer acceptance. The results showed that the formula containing 100% Pineapple had high acceptance scores compared to other formulas.