Determining oil mobility in nut masses and its effect on the quality of chocolates and spreads with fillings

In chocolates with nougat fillings, oil may migrate from one layer to another. As a result, fat bloom may form on the surface. Especially chocolate products with fillings containing nuts or fats tend to form fat bloom. This tendency is affected by the quality of the raw material of the nut masses as well as by the production process. To improve the quality and the prediction of the shelf life of chocolate products, it would be helpful to measure the oil mobility in nut masses. However, currently there are no measurement methods to accurately determine and compare oil mobility.

Determining oil mobility with the NMR measurement method

The objective of the research project is to improve the quality and shelf life of chocolate products with nut masses. For this purpose, a simple NMR measurement method for determining oil mobility will be developed. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) is already being used commercially in the fat industry, which means that the new method can be implemented quickly in the chocolate industry. The NMR measurement method indicates how processing processes affect the oil binding capacity. This information can be used to specifically adjust process parameters such as grinding, temperature, pressure and shear in the production of nut masses. Intermediate products can already be precisely assessed and optimized to meet their specific application requirements. As a result, quality controls are possible already during the production process and without destroying the sample.