Abstract

Author(s): Negro, Emilse; Williner, María Rosa

Introduction: Cocoa butter, which contains 33% oleic acid, 25% palmitic acid and 33% stearic acid, would have neutral effect on plasma cholesterol levels. Dark chocolate (DC), milk chocolate (MC), white chocolate (WC) and center filled chocolate (CFC) and confectionery baths (CB) may contain different proportions of cocoa butter as well as milk fat, industrial fat or a mixture of them which add trans fatty acids (t-FA) with a diverse impact on health depending on their source.

Objective: To evaluate the fatty acids (FA) profile, including t-FA and their origin, and legislation compliance in chocolates and CB produced in Argentina.

Methods: To analyze the FA composition, a Shimadzu GC2014 gas chromatograph equipped with a capillary column SP-Sil 88, 100 m x 0.25 mm internal diameter (Varian, USA) was used.

Results and discussion: DC showed a FA profile characteristic of cocoa butter. Different is the case of the other types of chocolate and CB since this profile was modified by the addition of other fatty matter that increase the quantities of atherogenic FA (lauric and myristic acids) and decrease the stearic and oleic acid, which have a neutral role and beneficial to health, respectively. Added to this, the presence of tFA of industrial origin in the CFC and CB, further reduce the nutritional quality. However, in all cases, when t-FA exceeded 0.2 g/portion, they were declared in accordance with the law.

Conclusions: Only DC would have a neutral effect on plasma cholesterol levels. In the other chocolates and BR, the presence of other fat matter, some with high t-FA content, would decrease the nutritional quality