Determining chocolate antioxidants by infrared spectroscopy and multivariate analysis

Chocolates have a rich source of dietary phenolic compounds and antioxidants. During chocolate manufacture, the antioxidant capacity and procyanidin content in cocoa can be affected by a variety of processing conditions. Therefore, a rapid and less expensive method to determine chocolate antioxidants is highly demanded in confectionery industry. As a nondestructive tool, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy coupled with multivariate analysis is an ideal candidate to address this technique challenges in chocolate industry. We will determine antioxidant capacity and procyanidin content of chocolates using FT-IR spectroscopy and multivariate analysis. With the multivariate analysis model, the determination of antioxidant capacity and procyanidin content of chocolates can be achieved within 1 min per sample in a nondestructive manner. This novel technique has the potential to reduce the cost of determination of antioxidants in chocolate and to further aid in optimizing chocolate manufacture process, leading to more health benefits to chocolate consumers in Canada and abroad.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Xiaonan Lu

Student:

Yaxi Hu & TBD

Partner:

Chocolat Naturel

Discipline:

Food science

Sector:

Consumer goods

University:

University of British Columbia