Fats in Cocoa Butter Applications

COCOA BUTTER is an important constituent of chocolate formulations. It enjoys a very high status in the chocolate industry due to its property of remaining hard, moldable and brittle at room temperature and completely melting at the mouth temperature. Our fats produced from tree borne oilseeds have unique triglyceride combination consisting of right proportion of POP, POSt, StOSt types of glycerides. These fats match the properties of cocoa butter and could be blended with cocoa butter proportionately.

COCOA BUTTER EQUIVALENTS are fats, which behave like cocoa butter in all respects and are able to mix with cocoa butter in any proportion without alerting the melting rheological and processing characteristics of cocoa butter in all types of formulation. CBE are non-hydrogenated speciality fats containing the same fatty acids and symmetrical monounsaturated triglycerides as cocoa butter.

Cocoa butter is a simple three component system consisting of POP, POSt and SOSt triglycerides and if these three triglycerides are mixed in appropriate proportions, then the resultant vegetable fat will behave as 100% cocoa butter equivalent. Palm oil is fractionated to produce middle-melting fraction rich in POP, and exotic fats such as Sal, Mango, Shea, Kokum etc. are fractionated to get triglyceride cuts rich in POSt and StOSt. A careful preparation and blending of these result in a tailor-made fat equivalent to cocoa butter.
The main drawbacks of cocoa butter are:

1. Low milk-fat tolerance.
2. Lack of stability at elevated temperatures.
3. Tendency to bloom.

The principle advantages of incorporating CBE's are:

1. Reduction in the production cost of chocolates, as CBE's are cheaper than cocoa butter.
2. Stabilizing influence on fluctuating prices of cocoa butter.
3. Improves tolerance of milk-fat
4. Improves stability of chocolates in tropical climate.
5. Bloom control.