DEVELOPMENT OF DIET DARK CHOCOLATE ADDED WITH PEPPER AND CONSUMER ACCEPTANCE STUDY

Sucrose is one of the major constituents of chocolate and its replacement by sweetening agents is a challenge for industry to the production of diet formulations. This research had the purpose to produce dark chocolates with total replacement of sugar by Stevia (50, 80, 98)% Reb A with differentiation by the addition of pepper (Capsicum baccatum) (0.20; 0.35; 0.50)%. Ten samples were produced for acceptance testing in evaluation of appearance, aroma, flavor, texture and overall impression by 120 participants. The same samples were also subjected to instrumental texture analysis (TA.XT2i). The results indicated that there was no statistically significant difference for the aroma of the samples, even with the introduction of the pepper (p>0,05). In terms of flavor acceptance, it was observed that the samples produced with the highest concentration of pepper and the lowest fractions of Stevia Reb A had lower scores, which was associated with a high perceived pungency among them (p<0,05). Texture acceptance results showed that the participants indicated higher scores for the control sample, produced with sugar. It obtained a lower rupture tension value (kgf/cm) when compared to the chocolate samples produced with stevia, which was related to the replacement of sucrose by the polyol used as a bulking agent. In general, there was a higher preference among the participants for the samples produced with lower pepper concentrations, due to their better results in overall impression and purchase intention. This may be related to the fact that capsaicin present in Capsicum peppers has a dominant sensation in the palate, especially for people with more sensitivity to the compound. Thus, this study reaffirms the importance of sensory science and the affective methods use in the development of new products, as well as the need for instrumental analyzes for better understanding and comparison between results.