SCH 4433

EMULSIFIERS AND SURFACTANTS

ASSIGNMENT 1: INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

TOPIC: APPLICATION OF LECITHINS AND MONO

& DI-GLYCERIDES

NAME : NUR SYAZWANI BINTI SABARUDIN

MATRIC NO : 1716646

DATE OF SUBMISSION : 6th JULY 2020

LECTURER’S NAME : ASST. PROF. DR. NOR SALIYANA JUMALI

INTRODUCTION

The product that I choose is beryl’s gourmet dark chocolate. It contains lecithin that
extracted from soybeans. Lecithin acts as emulsifier because it has both hydrophilic and
lipophilic properties. The hydrophilic head consists of the choline, phosphate and glycerol
parts. Meanwhile, the lipophilic tails are the fatty acid part as stated in picture 1. The
hydrophilic part will dissolve the water while the lipophilic part will dissolve the fats or oils.
Thus, it enables the fats or oils to mix with water in one mixture. Lecithin came from the
Greek word, lekythos means yolk. In 1845, lecithin was isolated from egg yolk by the French
chemist and pharmacist, Theodore Nicolas Gobley i. Then, in 1889, the first discover on
lecithin in plants such as soybeans by a German chemist, Ernst Schulze. In 1930, the first
patent of soy lecithin for the application to chocolate by Hansa Mühle.

Figure 1. The molecular structure of lecithin Figure 2. The beryl’s gourmet dark
chocolate

Dark chocolate is a suspension of non-fat solid particles which are sugar, cocoa solids
and milk powder dispersed in continuous fat phase. Sugar is very important ingredients. Any
changes in the recipe will give effect on the textural properties of the chocolate. Meanwhile,
any changes in type of emulsifier will give effects on its texture and rheological properties ii

DISCUSSION

The suitable time for lecithin to be added is before the conching process iii. Then, the
conching process will be performed by using the Heidolph mixer for 30 minutes at the speed
of 60 rpm. Then, the mixture will be refrigerated for 30 minutes at 4°C in silicon container.
During chocolate production, the chocolate will be heated and it begin to soften and flow. If
the amount of non-fat solid particles is too high, so the flowability of the chocolate will be
slowediv. Thus, it is very important to put lecithin in it. The function of lecithin in chocolate is
to cover the sucrose particles for developing good flow in continuous fat phase. It gives
uniform particle distribution in cocoa butter and prevent any clump.

The hydrophilic head of lecithin will adsorb at the hydrophilic surface of sugar or
sucrose. Meanwhile, the lipophilic tail of lecithin will be oriented at continuous fat phase.
Therefore, making them lipophilic at outside. These kinds of molecular layers act as
lubricant, hence reducing the internal friction and viscosity in chocolate.

Figure 3. The hydrophilic head and lipophilic tail of lecithin in chocolate

Commercial lecithin has different grades and forms either in oiled (powder) or
deoiled (liquid) form. The different grade usually expresses with Hydrophilic-Lipophilic
Balance (HLB) value. It has many grade suitable for specific food application to achieve
required dispersibility properties. In chocolate making, the suitable HLB value for lecithin is
4 which is in liquid form or known as non-deoiled lecithin (standard lecithin) based on
picture 2. The lower the HLB value, the more lipophilic it is. Thus, it will work better in
chocolate rather than bread or dressing.
 Figure 4. The HLB value of different lecithin grades

When lecithin is completely reacted in chocolate, the solid particles cannot be

detected by our tongue as it is being covered up. When we eat the chocolate, it will feel
smoother. Lecithin also prevents any fat bloom at outside of the chocolate bars.

Lastly, Rousset et al. (2002) concluded that the addition of lecithin in the 0.1% to
0.3% content significantly changes the Casson yield value and plastic viscosity, but the
addition above 0.5% increases the yield value because the higher lecithin content causes the
formation of multiple layers on the surface of sucrose particles (due to reverse micelle
formation)v.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, non-deoiled lecithin or liquid lecithin is the best emulsifier in

production of chocolate with HLB value is 4. Due to lipophilic and hydrophilic properties of
lecithin, it able to cover the sucrose particles for developing good flow in continuous fat
phase. Only lower quantities of lecithin are needed around 0.1% to 0.3% in production of
fine chocolate product. If too much lecithin is added, it will cause increasing in yield value of
the chocolate. We believe that usually people will put cocoa butter as one of the
ingredients, but it is expensive. Therefore, to reduce production cost, the chocolate factory
use lecithin instead of cocoa butter because it is cheaper, efficient and only needs a little to
be added into chocolate. The chocolate will be affordable for the consumer to buy with
good chocolate quality and taste.

REFERENCES
i
Tromba, A. (2019, August 16). The Misknown Role Of Lecithin In Chocolate. Retrieved July
05, 2020, from https://foodensity.com/lecithin-in-chocolate/
ii
Veronika Barišić, Drago Šubarić, Midhat Jašić & Jurislav Babić. (2019). Function of Food
Additives in Chocolate Production. Food in Health and Disease, scientific-professional journal
of nutrition and dietetics, 8 (2), 123-128.
iii
Rabie Ashkezary, Mansour & Yeganehzad, Samira & Vatankhah, Hamed & Todaro, Aldo &
Maghsoudlou, Yahya. (2017). Effects of different emulsifiers and refining time on rheological
and textural characteristics of compound chocolate. Italian Journal of Food Science. 30. DOI:
10.14674/IJFS-759.
iv
Whitney, C. (2020, March 09). Lecithin in Chocolate Making. Retrieved July 05, 2020, from
https://blog.modernistpantry.com/advice/lecithin-in-chocolate-making/
v
Rousset, P., Sellappan, P., & Daoud, P. (2002). Effect of emulsifiers on surface properties of
sucrose by inverse gas chromatography, J. Chromatogr. A, 969 (1-2), 97–101.