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CN-122003178-A - Cocoa compositions

CN122003178ACN 122003178 ACN122003178 ACN 122003178ACN-122003178-A

Abstract

The present application relates generally to an alkalized cocoa powder, in particular an alkalized cocoa powder having a D90 value of less than 50.0 μm and a color L value of 15.0 to 26.0 as measured by the white diluent method. A process for preparing the alkalized cocoa powder is also disclosed.

Inventors

  • 1. Chelfer
  • L. Luowen
  • T. WILLIAMSON
  • E. Pirani
  • J. Dos Santos
  • A. Qiao Kan
  • P adds card

Assignees

  • 洲际伟大品牌有限公司

Dates

Publication Date
20260508
Application Date
20241022
Priority Date
20231023

Claims (20)

  1. 1. An alkalized cocoa powder having a D90 value of less than 50.0 μm and a color L value of 15.0 to 26.0 as measured by the white diluent method.
  2. 2. The alkalized cocoa powder of claim 1, wherein the alkalized cocoa powder has a D90 value of less than 45.0 μιη.
  3. 3. The alkalized cocoa powder of claim 1 or 2, wherein the alkalized cocoa powder has a D90 value of less than 40.0 μιη.
  4. 4. The alkalized cocoa powder of any preceding claim, wherein the alkalized cocoa powder has a D90 value of less than 35.0 μιη.
  5. 5. The alkalized cocoa powder of claim 1, wherein the alkalized cocoa powder has a D90 value between 15.0 and 35.0 μιη.
  6. 6. The alkalized cocoa powder of claim 5, wherein the alkalized cocoa powder has a D90 value between 20.0 and 30.0 μιη.
  7. 7. The alkalized cocoa powder of claim 6, wherein the alkalized cocoa powder has a D90 value between 22.0 and 28.0 μιη, preferably a D90 value of 25.0 μιη.
  8. 8. The alkalized cocoa powder of any preceding claim, wherein the alkalized cocoa powder has a color L value of 17.0 to 26.0.
  9. 9. The alkalized cocoa powder of any preceding claim, wherein the alkalized cocoa powder has a color L value of 21.0 to 26.0.
  10. 10. The alkalized cocoa powder of any preceding claim, wherein the alkalized cocoa powder has a color L value of 22.0 to 25.0.
  11. 11. The alkalized cocoa powder of any preceding claim, wherein the alkalized cocoa powder has a pH of 6.0 to 8.0, preferably a pH of 6.4 to 7.1.
  12. 12. The alkalized cocoa powder of any preceding claim, wherein the alkalized cocoa powder has a potassium content of at least 3500mg/100 g.
  13. 13. The alkalized cocoa powder of any preceding claim, wherein the alkalized cocoa powder has a sodium content of less than 150mg/100 g.
  14. 14. The alkalized cocoa powder of any preceding claim, wherein the alkalized cocoa powder has an ash content of less than 15% by weight.
  15. 15. A process for preparing an alkalized cocoa powder as claimed in any preceding claim, the process comprising the steps of: a. adding a sample of cocoa powder to a reaction vessel; b. adding an alkaline solution to the reaction vessel; c. Adding a gas into the reaction vessel such that the pressure in the reaction vessel reaches a first pressure (P1); d. releasing at least a portion of the gas from the reaction vessel to reduce the pressure in the reaction vessel to a second pressure (P2); e. Adding a gas to the reaction vessel such that the pressure in the reaction vessel reaches a third pressure (P3); Wherein P1 is greater than 3.0 bar, P3 is greater than 2.5 bar, and P2 is less than P1 and P3.
  16. 16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the first pressure (P1) is 4.0 bar to 8.0 bar.
  17. 17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the first pressure (P1) is 5.0 bar to 7.0 bar.
  18. 18. The method of any one of claims 15 to 17, wherein the second pressure is no greater than 1.5 bar.
  19. 19. The method of any one of claims 15 to 18, wherein the third pressure is no greater than 6.0 bar.
  20. 20. The method of any one of claims 15 to 19, wherein the first pressure is about 1.0 to 3.0 times the third pressure.

Description

Cocoa compositions Technical Field The present invention relates to a cocoa composition, in particular an alkalized cocoa composition, more in particular an alkalized cocoa powder and a process for preparing an alkalized cocoa powder. Background Processing of cocoa beans typically includes fermenting the harvested beans, drying the beans, dehulling the beans to produce nibs (nib), sterilizing and baking the nibs, comminuting the nibs into cocoa mass, and optionally compacting the cocoa mass to obtain cocoa butter and cocoa powder. During processing of cocoa beans, cocoa nibs or cocoa powder, the properties of the resulting cocoa product, such as color, flavor and solubility, can be altered by adding a base to the cocoa material in an alkalizing step, resulting in an alkalized or "netherlands" cocoa material. The use of alkalised cocoa material has previously overcome problems associated with some cocoa products. For example, natural cocoa products are light brown in color, but it is often desirable to produce darker or more "reddish brown" cocoa materials. Cocoa materials with significant coloring power have traditionally been obtained by using artificial pigments. However, many countries prohibit the use of artificial pigments in foodstuffs, including cocoa products. By introducing an alkalization step in the processing of cocoa beans and using specific alkalization reaction conditions such as temperature, pressure, pH, time and moisture content of the cocoa material, darker and more "reddish brown" colors can be produced in the cocoa product. The alkalized cocoa product can be used in applications such as baked products, desserts, ice cream, cocoa beverages, ice cream toppings, biscuits or confections and composite coatings. Alkalized cocoa can also be used in applications where the product needs to be further prepared to obtain a consumable product, such as cake pre-mix, ice cream pre-mix, dessert mix and instant cocoa. Consumer demand requires cocoa manufacturers to produce cocoa products with a wide range of flavors and colors and to provide a novel and interesting sensory experience to consumers. These properties of cocoa material can be directly affected by the alkalization of the cocoa material during processing of the cocoa beans, which demonstrates the importance of cocoa alkalization. Thus, there is a need in the marketplace for cocoa products having novel and interesting characteristics desired by consumers. It is an aim of embodiments of the present invention to at least partially overcome or alleviate at least one of the above problems and/or to provide an alkalised cocoa product having desirable characteristics such as colour, flavour and particle size and improving the consumer's existing sensory experience. Disclosure of Invention According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an alkalised cocoa powder having a D90 value of less than 50.0 μm and a colour L value of 15.0 to 26.0 as measured by the white diluent method. The color of cocoa powder can be represented using the Hunter (Hunter) color coordinate scale or CIE 1976 (CIELAB) color system, which uses three coordinates (or values) to define the color profile of cocoa powder. The L-coordinate represents the luminance and may take values between 0 (for black) and 100 (for white), the a-value represents the red component (a > 0), and the b-value represents the yellow component (b > 0). Advantageously, a color L value of about 15.0 to about 26.0 indicates cocoa powder having a darker (i.e., darker) or at least a more "reddish brown" color. Thus, the cocoa powder of the invention is suitable for use in the production of food or beverage products having a tailored color profile. An alkalized cocoa powder having a color L value of about 15.0 to about 26.0 is further advantageous because the alkalized cocoa powder of the invention can be used alone or in combination with other cocoa powders to produce food and beverage products having tailored color and flavor profiles. Advantageously, the alkalized cocoa powder can be used to reduce costs or increase cost margin, as the same color impact as a larger amount of standard non-alkalized cocoa powder can be achieved using a smaller amount of alkalized cocoa powder. Advantageously, the alkalized cocoa powder of the invention has a dark color (i.e., tends to be black using the CIELAB color space) and can be produced in the absence of ammonia-based bases or significant amounts of relatively weak bases such as sodium hydroxide. Thus, the alkalized cocoa powder of the invention provides an advantageous alternative to the prior art alkalized cocoa powder formed using an ammonia-based base or a significant amount of a relatively weak base (such as sodium hydroxide), and thus may include significant sodium concentrations due to the large amount of sodium-based base used to produce the alkalized cocoa powder. Advantageously, the present invention thus has a D90 value of less than 50.0