The Possibility of Benefiting from Date Seed Powder in The Manufacture of Chocolate Spread and Studying Its Quality Characteristics

Abstract

This research aimed to study the possibility of benefiting from date seed powder as a healthy substitute for cocoa powder in chocolate processing, by determining some chemical indicators of cocoa powder and date seed powder and studying the effect of replacing cocoa powder with date stone powder in different proportions in the content of total phenol, antioxidant activity and color indicators, and sensory properties of chocolate compared to the control. The cocoa powder sample showed a significant increase in moisture content and pH compared to the date seed powder sample. The date seed powder sample was characterized by higher fiber content (79.31%) on a dry weight basis than cocoa powder. Chocolate samples manufactured using 100% date seed powder showed a significant increase in ash and raw fiber content and a substantial decrease in moisture content, pH number, and total sugar content compared to the control sample. The addition of date seed powder led to a significant increase in the content of total phenol and antioxidant activity in the sample (100% date seed powder), a moral increase in the value of (L* and h) indicators, and a significant decrease in the (a*, b* and C)values compared with the other studied samples. The chocolate sample manufactured using 4% date seed powder was significantly superior in the degree of taste, aroma, and texture compared to the rest of the studied samples, while the control sample was significantly superior in color terms.