Blending of mango kernel fat and palm oil mid-fraction to obtain cocoa butter equivalent

Cocoa butter equivalent (CBE) was produced from a blend of mango kernel fat (MKF) and palm oil mid-fraction (PMF). Five fat blends with different ratios of MKF/PMF (90/10, 80/20, 70/30, 60/40 and 50/50 (%wt)) and pure MKF, PMF and cocoa butter (CB) were characterized. Similar to CB, all fat blends contained palmitic (P), stearic (S) and oleic (O) acids as the main fatty acid components. The triglyceride compositions of all blends were significantly different from CB. However, blend 80/20, which contained higher content of SOS, similar content of POP and lower content of POS compared to CB, exhibited a slip melting point, crystallization and melting behavior most similar to CB and hence it was recommended as CBE. The chosen CBE was then mixed with CB in a ratio of 1:5.64 (wt), mimicking that of typical dark chocolate where 5 % of CBE is added to the finished product. The crystallization behavior, the crystal morphology and bloom behavior of the mixture was investigated and was found to be not significantly different from CB.