Physico-chemical analysis of newly prepared prebiotic chocolates by using Galacto Oligosaccharides (GOS)

Abstract

In India, chocolate is very famous mood freshening sweet food product specially for children. But high consumption of chocolate may be harmful for human health, because most of the chocolates contain high fat. This research has been done to increase the health benefits of chocolate by using cocoa and Galacto Oligosaccharides (GOS). Many researchers have shown their research that GOS is very beneficial for human health such as it helps to lower down the cholesterol levels in the blood, to prevent colon cancer, and helps to improve mineral absorption in human body. Basically, GOS is a type of prebiotic e.g., food for probiotic bacteria. Prebiotics are non-digestible ingredients that benefit the host by boosting the growth and activity of one or a few bacterial species that are already present in the colon. It was also studied by many researchers that cocoa powder contains a lot of caffeine, flavanols, which are polyphenolic compounds. Flavanols, particularly epicatechin monomer and oligomer cocoa flavanols have been linked to a number of health advantages, including boosting nitric oxide synthase, enhancing blood flow and arterial flexibility, lowering blood pressure and platelet aggregation, and reducing inflammation. The main objectives of this research are to develop the formulation of prebiotic chocolate and to evaluate the physicochemical parameters of the newly prepared chocolate. After physico-chemical analysis of carbohydrate, fat, crude fibre and p^H, it was found that both the newly prepared prebiotic enriched chocolates (T₁ and T₂) were significantly different (p≤0.01) from control (T₀) and after analysis of protein content, it was also found that both the newly prepared prebiotic enriched chocolates (T₁ and T₂) were insignificantly different (p≤0.01) from control (T₀).