Some confectionery products, such as glazed sweets, can develop a soapy taste during storage. This is due to several main factors, such as the use of lauric type cocoa butter substitute glazes and the requirements for food products to extend shelf life. According to food quality competition expert socialbites.ca, the accumulation of free lauric acid due to the hydrolysis of fats in the presence of an enzyme of the lipase group can give confectionery products a soapy taste and a foreign odor after a certain shelf life. “Quality Guarantee”, deputy director for scientific work of the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of the Center for Food Systems of the Confectionery Industry. Gorbatova, candidate of technical sciences Oksana Rudenko.
According to him, at room temperature, this enzyme triggers fermentative hydrolysis (the reaction of a substance with water), triggering the release of free fatty acids from the oil. VNIIKP has developed a method that allows determining the presence of lipase in confectionery products, raw materials and semi-finished products and predicting organoleptic changes during storage of confectionery products.
At risk are shelf-stable biscuits, bird’s milk, fondant and whipped desserts topped with icing. Mostly in the mass segment, lauric type cocoa butter substitutes are used, containing up to 50% lauric fatty acid.
“Fat is a complex molecule that is an ester of glycerol and fatty acids. These acids can be released, that is, enzymatic hydrolysis occurs under the action of lipase. Some fatty acids have an unpleasant taste or odor, and some do not. If lauric acid is released, the product acquires a soapy taste,” Rudenko explained.
In this case, a very small amount of free lauric acid (~0.1%) is sufficient to give the product a soapy taste.
As the expert points out, some oils lack this acid at all or contain less than half a percent, such as palm and cocoa butters, equivalents of cocoa butter, because their main fatty acids are other fatty acids, such as palmitic. , stearic, oleic.
“If the candy is coated with glaze made using real chocolate or cocoa butter equivalents, then there will be no unpleasant sensation. It is worth noting that soap flavored products are absolutely safe for humans. Therefore, there is no need to be afraid, but unfortunately it is not possible to correct this flaw,” Rudenko concluded.
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