Researchers suggest that where fat lies chocolate chip cookies the chocolate helps to make the texture so appealing. Why does chocolate feel so good? I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent.
For chocolate fans the taste is a key part of why they love the treat, however, researchers have now shed light on why the irresistible confectionery feels so good. Scientists decoded the physical process that takes place in the mouth when a piece of chocolate is eaten, as it changes from a solid into a smooth emulsion. They suggest that where the fat lies within the chocolate helps to make the texture so appealing. By analysing each of the steps, researchers at the University of Leeds hope their findings will lead to the development of luxury chocolate with the same feel and texture that is healthier to eat. When chocolate is in contact with the tongue, it releases a fatty film that coats the tongue and other surfaces in the mouth.
This makes it feel smooth the entire time it is in the mouth. According to the study, when in the mouth the chocolate sensation arises from the way the chocolate is lubricated, either from ingredients in the chocolate itself or from saliva or a combination of the two. Almost as soon as chocolate comes into contact with the tongue, fat has a key role to play. After that, solid cocoa particles are released and they become important in terms of the tactile sensation. Therefore, fat deeper inside the chocolate plays a somewhat limited role and could be reduced without the feel or sensation of chocolate being affected, the researchers suggest.
Lubrication science gives mechanistic insights into how food actually feels in the mouth. You can use that knowledge to design food with better taste, texture or health benefits. However, it is the location of the fat in the make-up of the chocolate which matters in each stage of lubrication, and that has been rarely researched. We are showing that the fat layer needs to be on the outer layer of the chocolate, this matters the most, followed by effective coating of the cocoa particles by fat, these help to make chocolate feel so good. The study published in the ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces journal did not look at how chocolate tastes, and instead focused on feel and texture. Tests were conducted using a luxury brand of dark chocolate on an artificial 3D tongue-like surface that was designed at the University of Leeds. With the understanding of the physical mechanisms that happen as people eat chocolate, we believe that a next generation of chocolate can be developed that offers the feel and sensation of high-fat chocolate yet is a healthier choice.
Our research opens the possibility that manufacturers can intelligently design dark chocolate to reduce the overall fat content. We believe dark chocolate can be produced in a gradient-layered architecture with fat covering the surface of chocolates and particles to offer the sought after self-indulging experience without adding too much fat inside the body of the chocolate. The researchers believe the physical techniques used in the study could be applied to the investigation of other foodstuffs that undergo a phase change, such as ice-cream, margarine or cheese. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy notice and Terms of service apply. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. What kind of magic do they put in chocolate, anyway?
A close up image of chunks of chocolate. Raw, unprocessed chocolate tastes bitter and dry, but chocolate that’s been fermented, dried, and roasted, and had a bit of sugar and cream added to it, tastes divine. People around the world enjoy the decadent flavor of chocolate on its own and in an enormous variety of foods. More than half of all the chocolate we consume comes from West African countries, primarily Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. Chocolate is derived from the fruit of the cacao tree, which grows exclusively in tropical climates. These lumpy berries, or pods, are full of up to 50 sour seeds, or beans, covered in white pulp. The pods are harvested by hand and cut open to remove the cocoa beans which are then placed in covered trays where they ferment for several days.
After fermentation, the beans are uncovered and left out to dry. Next, the beans are taken to the chocolate factory, where they are cleaned and debris is removed. The beans are roasted in large, rotating ovens. The roasting draws out flavor and removes the beans from their hulls. Roasted beans go into a winnowing machine, which cracks the beans and removes hulls. The remaining part of the bean is called the nib, and that’s the piece that becomes edible chocolate.
The nibs are ground down under a series of rollers to create a thick paste called chocolate liquor. At this point, chocolatiers have creative freedom to create chocolate to their tastes. According to the FCIA, ingredients separate fine chocolate from that of average quality. Additional flavors or ingredients like nuts can be added later. What are the types of chocolate? Historically, fine chocolate falls into three main categories: dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate, Williams explained. Dark chocolate is made with chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, lecithin, sugar and vanilla.
Milk chocolate includes the same ingredients as dark chocolate plus milk fats and milk solids. White chocolate is made with the same ingredients as milk chocolate, except it does not include the chocolate liquor. The lack of chocolate liquor in white chocolate has led chocolatiers to debate whether it’s truly chocolate. Food and Drug Administration considered it a confectionary rather than chocolate because it does not contain chocolate liquor. Because the FDA refers to it as white chocolate, rather than confectionary, some experts, like Williams, accept white chocolate as chocolate. In 2017, a fourth category of chocolate joined the list: Ruby chocolate. Barry Callebaut, the world’s largest cocoa processing company, developed the pink-hued chocolate by adding a powder that’s naturally extracted as the cocoa beans are processed to make chocolate.