Formation and properties of dark chocolate prepared using fat mixtures of cocoa butter and symmetric/asymmetric stearic-oleic mixed-acid triacylglycerols: Impact of molecular compound crystals

•Ternary fat mixture of CB, SatSatO and OSatO were employed to dark chocolate.•Ternary fat mixture with CB/(SatSatO + OSatO) of 1:1 formed β-2.•No fat bloom was observed in dark chocolate with fat mixture of CB/SatSatO/OSatO of 50/20–0/30–50.•Ternary fat mixture with CB/SatSatO/OSatO is attractive candidate as new types of CBA. This paper reports an experimental study of the formation and properties of dark chocolate prepared using novel CB alternative fats (CBAs): symmetric (OSatO) and asymmetric (SatSatO) mixed-acid triacylglycerols (TAGs), in which Sat and O represent saturated fatty acids (stearic:S + palmitic:P) and oleic acid moieties, respectively. It was found that the ternary fat mixtures of CB/SatSatO/OSatO with a ratio of CB/(SatSatO + OSatO) of 1:1 formed the most stable β-form of the double chain length (DCL) structure (β-2), which revealed sufficient hardness and sharp melting profiles around body temperature without tempering processes. Fat bloom formation was not observed in dark chocolate with CBAs at ratios of CB/SatSatO/OSatO of 50/20/30–50/0/50 during the one-year storage test at temperatures between 15 °C and 30 °C. Overall, the present study has shown that fat mixtures made of CB/SatSatO/OSatO, which are rich in oleic acid moieties, can be employed as a cocoa butter equivalent (CBE) fat without tempering procedures.