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. 2024 Jan 29;12(5):3309-3321.
doi: 10.1002/fsn3.3997. eCollection 2024 May.

Production of low-protein cocoa powder with enzyme-assisted hydrolysis

İnci Cerit  1 , Könül Mehdizade  1 , Ayşe Avcı  1 , Omca Demirkol  1
Affiliations

Production of low-protein cocoa powder with enzyme-assisted hydrolysis

İnci Cerit et al. Food Sci Nutr. .

Abstract

Amino acid-related disorders are caused by a defect in the metabolic pathways of amino acid groups. These patients must follow a lifelong protein diet. The objective of this study was to produce a low-protein cocoa powder (LPP) with enzymatic hydrolysis and precipitation method. First, the solubility of cocoa powder was increased by heat and enzyme treatments (Amylase, Viscozyme, and Alcalase). Then, the protein level was decreased by isoelectric precipitation. According to the obtained results, the solubility of cocoa powder rose from 28.61% to 50.69%. Protein content decreased by almost 40% and significant reductions in the amino acid profile were also provided; the highest ones were detected in methionine (100%), lysine (73.65%), leucine (53.64%), alanine (46.17%), and isoleucine (44.73%) levels. LPP had high phenolic content (25.10 mg/g GAE) and the changes in the antioxidant activities were not significant (p > .05). Moreover, chocolate production with LPP and control powder was also carried out under laboratory conditions. Hardness (1732.52 g), moisture content (0.60%), and water activity (0.37) of chocolate samples produced with low-protein cocoa powder (LPC) were lower than those of the control sample. The Casson model well fitted to the rheological data (R 2 > .990) and chocolate samples showed elastic behavior. The removal of proteins from the cocoa was verified with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analyses. The melting temperatures of chocolates (31.84 and 31.54°C for control and LPC samples, respectively) did not change with the applied process. As a conclusion, it was revealed that the production of low-protein cocoa powder and chocolate is feasible for patients with amino acid disorders with this study.

Keywords: amino acid disorder; cocoa powder; enzyme‐assisted hydrolysis; low‐protein product.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Production process of low‐protein cocoa powder.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Protein content of cocoa powder at different pH values.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Chocolate samples produced with control cocoa powder (a) and low‐protein cocoa powder (b).
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Flow behaviors of chocolates at 40°C: (a) shear stress versus shear rate; (b) viscosity versus shear rate.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Strain sweep at frequency of 10 rad/s for chocolate samples (a) and frequency sweep for chocolate samples at deformation of 0.002% (b) (G′: filled symbols and G″: open symbols).
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Differential scanning calorimetric measurements of chocolate samples produced with control cocoa powder (a) and low‐protein cocoa powder (b).
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra of chocolate samples.
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