Creating a better, healthier chocolate experience

Creating a better, healthier chocolate experience


For chocolate lovers, indulging in their favorite treat can make them wax poetic. Now, science has decoded the process that takes place when chocolate changes from solid to liquid as it is eaten.

But what’s driving the need to understand such a sublime experience? Researchers at the University of Leeds in England wanted to better understand the individual events that make chocolate so irresistible. It’s a first step in developing chocolate that has a classic feel and taste but is healthier to eat.

Using a luxury brand of dark chocolate, the researchers devised an artificial, tongue-like surface to study what takes place as chocolate melts in the mouth. On a human tongue, chocolate releases a fatty film that coats the mouth’s surfaces. That’s what gives chocolate its classic, silky feel.

This is what they found about the science behind the indulgence: Fat is the first taste sensation after chocolate hits the tongue. Solid cocoa particles then burst forth, delivering the treat’s classic taste and feel. That is important because it could someday lead to chocolate that contains less fat but still packs the same taste sensations.

In another key finding, they determined that where fat sits within the chocolate is more important to the eating experience than overall fat content. Having more fat on the outer layer of the chocolate matters the most, followed by cocoa particles that are effectively coated by fat. In its ideal state, that’s what makes chocolate so … chocolate.

Someday, science may help to deliver what everyone craves — a chocolate bar with all of the flavor and mouthfeel … but none of the guilt.

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