It is also worth mentioning that Tao believes this low-fat chocolate is also healthier and tastier than other products.
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There’s no guarantee that Mars or any other company that might be interested in adopting the technique would use it to replace the fat with something healthier. For us humble geeks, it’s just really cool to see the problem of viscosity ameliorated with the help of some clever electrical engineering. Smart liquids are usually industrial fluids but with this research, it was discovered that melted chocolate acts as a smart liquid. Therefore, removing cocoa butter during the production of the chocolate could also change the melting temperature of the chocolate.
“Most people think of chocolate as solid because this is how they buy and eat it”, he and his team explained.
The key was applying the electric field in the same direction as the flow of the chocolate. The researchers reported that fats make up to 40 percent of a typical molding, 25 to 30 percent of which are cocoa butter.
Sending electric shocks to cocoa particles improves the flow of liquid chocolate without the need for extra cocoa butter.
Most importantly, taste tests revealed that the altered chocolate still tasted good. It took series of experiments for Tao and his team to come up with chocolate that had smooth flowing consistency and still retain its fabulous taste, minus the unhealthy ingredients. To surpass this issue, most chocolate companies started introducing low-calorie substances to substitute the original fat in the product, however, this affects the flavor and viscosity of the chocolate.
What’s more, the procedure is not associated with a high electricity bill, and additionally costs should be offset by savings in cocoa butter, which is a relatively pricey as compared with solid cocoa. The field polarises cocoa particles turning them into short chains that flow more easily. The study was initiated in order to find out how electricity could help in improving the viscosity of chocolate without adding extra cocoa butter.
You could soon have your favourite chocolate without much fat content on it without its taste being affected.
The microstructure of the particles changes from spherical to oblong, or prolate spheroidal. Furthermore, the study did not include supporting evidence about the taste and texture of the electric shocked-chocolate.
When the chocolate is manufactures, it is in a liquid state till the end.
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“Less butter would mean more powdery, more brittle, more stringent” Hayes told National Public Radio. Moreover, the scientists managed to reduce fat by 20%. Tao’s team believes this method could be applicable to any liquid for which there’s a need to reduce viscosity. In previous research, Tao has used an electric field to thin fuel to improve the transportation of crude oil via pipeline and improve gas efficiency in the engine and a magnetic field to thin blood to help prevent heart attacks. Electrorheology works by changing the alignment of the particles in a liquid using electric fields.
