Abstract—Chocolate is very popular among consumers of all ages. Replacing sucrose with low digestible carbohydrates (LDCs) will result in reduction of its energy content and glycemic index, as well as prevention of tooth decay. Inulin, and D-tagatose were used as sucrose substitutes in dark chocolate formulas. The inulin : D-tagatose ratios in the chocolate mixtures were 100:0, 75:25, 50:50, 25:75, and 0:100. With a reduction of the inulin content and increase of D-tagatose content, the moisture contents of the chocolate samples decreased, while their Aw increased. As the amount of D-tagatose increased in formula the hardness of the samples went up. In case of chocolate color indices, the least amounts of L*,a*,b*,c* and hue° were observed in chocolate samples with 100% inulin. The result indicated that reduction of the inulin resulted in decrease of the apparent and plastic viscosity and increases the yield stress and linear shear stress. Overall acceptability of the chocolate samples increased by increase of the D-tagatose level. It can be concluded that in chocolate samples with inulin: D-tagatose ratios of 25%-75% and 100%D-tagatose are proper for sucrose substitutes in dark chocolate formula.

Index Terms—Dark chocolate, D-tagatose, inulin, rheology, stevia.

M. Shourideh, A. Taslimi, and M. A. Mohammadifar are with Faculty of Nutrition Sciences and Food Technology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran (tel.:+982122360656; fax:+ 982122360657; e-mail: taslimifeyzipour@yahoo.com).
M. H. Azizi is with Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

Cite: M. Shourideh, A. Taslimi, MH. Azizi, and MA. Mohammadifar, "Effects of D-Tagatose and Inulin on Some Physicochemical, Rheological and Sensory Properties of Dark Chocolate," International Journal of Bioscience, Biochemistry and Bioinformatics vol. 2, no. 5, pp. 314-319, 2012.