Influence of Test Parameters on the Evaluation of Chocolate Silkiness Using the Tribological Method

Abstract

Silkiness is an extremely important attribute in high-end chocolate, and tribology is one of the commonly used methods of evaluating certain properties of the relevant food. In this study, based on three commercial chocolates of the same brand, the silky sensation was assessed by means of the professional sensation evaluation method. Artificial saliva was employed to obtain the mixed solutions with different chocolates, and their viscosity and coefficient of friction (CoF) were measured under different test parameters. The correlation of chocolate silkiness with the viscosities and average CoFs (aCoFs) are later discussed. The results showed that the silkiness of the three chocolates were negatively correlated with cocoa concentration and weakly correlated with viscosity. As the chocolate percentage decreased, the aCoF of the mixed solutions decreased, but the aCoF of the mixed solutions increased in relation to the cocoa concentration. In combination with the correlation coefficient of chocolate silkiness with the aCoFs, it was considered that 75% chocolate solutions using the Two-PDMS pair could be representative of the silkiness characteristic in oral processing at suitable operated parameters. The study results provide an insight into the rapid evaluation and development of similar attributes of high-end food.