Functional spreadable chocolate production with different vegetable oil-sourced hydrojel oleogel

This study evaluated the effect of hydrogel/oleogel produced in five different oil mediums (pistachios, wheat, fig seeds, flaxseed, and pumpkin seeds oils) without varying the gum and oleogelator ratios on the quality of chocolate spread. The spreads were made by replacing 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of the palm oil with hydrogel/oleogel, and then comparing the fatty acid profiles, as well as textural and sensory properties. The spreadability value was higher chocolate spread with pumpkin seed oil hydrogel/oleogel (910.89±28.04 g.s) than in chocolate spread with palm oil (9400.985±35.94 g.s). The increase in the spreadability of chocolate spread and the decrease in hardness are statistically significant as the rate of hydrogel/oleogel substitution for palm oil increases. Sensory evaluation showed that the chocolate spread, with palm oil replaced by 75% and 100% pistachio oil-based hydrogel/oleogel, presented sensory properties of "spreadability", "appearance" and "taste" that were highly scored by the panelists compared to the control spread. The results demonstrated that monounsaturated fatty acid reformulated spreads were higher in chocolate spread with pistachio oil (79.26 %) than in chocolate spread with palm oil (37.98 %). Therefore, these hydrogel/oleogel s can be used to produce reduced-fat palm oil chocolate spread with healthier lipid profiles.