Water Activity in CHOCOLATE

Chocolate, a sinfully delicious product on earth but also very complex in production. Various
factors are playing an important role and expertise is one of the most important components for
good chocolate. Besides that, reasonable control enhances the production process and helps
manufacturers keeping the quality of this natural product constant. Oxidation process and
spoilage of fillings by fungi are not really welcome, thus need to be avoided as good as
possible. Water activity (aW) is the magic word here which helps to get an idea if there is such a
risk or not.

For several decades, water activity has been used in food production as an easy and effective
way of assuring the food safety, especially in terms of risk determination of microbial spoilage.
As a significant parameter, it should be integrated into final product inspection as well as along
the whole production line as part of a HACCP concept.

Even today, moisture analysis is still well established in this kind of industry but moisture does
not tell anything about the risk of microbial contamination or chemical/physical product
changes in chocolate as it describes the total amount of water (free and bound water). Since
only the free water is responsible for product spoilage, moisture does not help much as it does
not specify the partial amount of free and bound water separately.

What is water activity?

Water activity is defined as the current volume and availability of “free” water in a sample and should
not be directly compared with the water content (g water/ g substance). The water activity is given as
the aw – value and ranges between 0 (absolute dryness) and 1 (100% relative humidity). Only this
component takes an active part in the exchange of moisture with the ambient air and can possibly form
the ideal medium for microbiological growth on the surface which influences the microbiological
stability. The water activity also has an important effect on the chemical reactions in food. Thus water
activity became an essential quality parameter

How can it be useful in chocolate?

In the last century, Mr. Scott found that microorganisms have a limiting water activity level below which
they will not grow. This limit is at 0.6aw.
Does it mean that a chocolate manufacturer has just to make sure that the water activity level of his
products does never exceed 0.6aw and then they are safe? Yes, this is right in terms of microbial
spoilage of the product but due to the fact that chocolate contains carbohydrates, fat and proteins there
are other types of reactions as oxidation processes which have to be tightly monitored. The free water
acts in such cases as solvent for the oxygen and transport it to the fat where reaction takes place.

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Chocolate production process and aw influence

In the chocolate manufacturing process, chocolate liquor is mixed with cocoa butter and sugar to create
a bar. In the case of milk chocolate, fresh, sweetened condensed or powdered whole milk is added,
depending on the individual manufacturer’s formula and manufacturing methods. That’s the short story,
but there are more than a dozen steps required to actually making a simple chocolate bar, whether it is
an eating bar or "couverture" (the professional blocks that are melted down by chocolatiers to make the
artisan bars, filled or enrobed chocolates and truffles).

Blending or “Mélangeur”

At this stage the chocolate liquor and other ingredients are kneaded
aW together according to the kind and blending quality of the chocolate
being made. Most chocolate is a blend of beans, selected to achieve a
specific consistent taste from year to year. Thus, unless a single origin
chocolate is being produced to highlight a specific terroir, the beans are
sorted and blended to produce a distinctive flavor. Large commercial
producers like Hershey and Nestlé use up to 12 different varieties of
beans from all over the world to achieve a consistency of flavor.

At this stage of production, different types of beans are blended in

different proportions according to particular recipes:

aW • For milk chocolate, cocoa butter and chocolate liquor are combined
in varying proportions; sugar and full cream milk (generally
condensed milk) are added.
• Dark chocolate uses the same process but without milk.
• White chocolate is made with cocoa butter, milk and sugar and does
not contain chocolate liquor.

aW The ingredients can be churned together for hours; the resulting is

dried to form a crumb which is ground with more cocoa butter in the
next phase. Water activity can be used to control the raw material to
Picture 1: Chocolate manufacturing process [1]
have an idea about the free water ingress made by ingredients and
thereby predict behaviour of the blend in subsequent process steps. Second opportunity offered is to
monitor processes possibly happening in milk powder (backing, clogging and glass transition) to avoid
problems from the beginning.

Refining or Fine Grinding

The second grinding produces a liquid, batter-like chocolate, but it is still gritty (hence, “crumb”). The
goal of refining is to make the thick chocolate crumb into a silky chocolate. It travels through a series of
heavy steel refining rollers set at different intervals and different speeds. The gaps between the final
rollers are so small that the chocolate components are ground into a thick fluid mass which is then run
off. The smoother the chocolate desired, the more rolling!

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Conching

Now the chocolate is “beaten” and refined by rollers to give it a finished, smooth, silky texture. But it
must be kneaded and churned one more time—this time in the conching machine. Conching is a
process which removes moisture and acidity from the chocolate. It eliminates undesirable odors, fully
evolves the desirable flavors and aromas and further smoothes the particles. The temperature, mixing
regimes and length of conching vary according to formulas that create different outcomes in the
chocolate.

Extra cocoa butter is sometimes added to give the chocolate a better mouthfeel. Soy lecithin is also
added to stabilize the chocolate, vanilla is added, and milk (if milk chocolate). The chocolate can now
be cooled and tempered.

Tempering

Chocolate is not shiny and smooth by nature. Without tempering, large crystals would form; the
chocolate would have a gritty texture and a dull appearance and/or the cocoa butter would separate out
(as cream separates from milk) creating a greyish-white bloom on the surface. After the conching and
before being molded into bars or made into filled chocolates, the chocolate paste must be tempered, a
delicate process that involves slowly heating and cooling the chocolate repeatedly to temperatures
between 40.5°C (105°F) and 29.5°C (85°F). This stab ilizes the product and achieves the smooth, shiny
texture, pleasant mouth-feel and a sharp “snap” when a piece is broken off.

The resulting chocolate is called "couverture" and forms the basis of most finished chocolate products.
It can be molded into chocolate bars or made into truffles or used to enrobe a box of assorted
chocolates. Now, the "couverture" is ready to be shaped into the end product for you, the consumer.
Canache is created, if cream is added to the "couverture" which is used for chocolate truffle filling.
Water activity monitoring is important here as the Canache can bring free water into the system. Most
of the big chocolate producers monitor the aw-value of the Canache.

Molding

There are different methods for producing chocolates: coating, hollow figure, layer- bar, molding and
cutting. Molding is the simplest, the coating process the oldest method for producing chocolates.
The layer-and-cut procedure is used for chocolates consisting of various layers such as marzipan,
nougat, croquant or fruits. The solid or semi-solid masses are laid on top of each other, and after
cooling cut into bite-sized pieces, that are often partially or entirely covered with chocolate.
Water activity is important for this step, if fillings are added as they are again a source of free water and
if it comes to jam or fruit fillings, the risk of microbial contamination grows tremendously. That is why aw
of filling material has to be monitored thoroughly to avoid product spoilage in the long-term (storage and
shipping).

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Typical Chocolate Values

Raw Materials and semi-products:

Type Typical aw-values

Cream 0.99-1.00 aw
Butter 0.95-0.98 aw
Glucose 0.70-0.72 aw
Sorbitol Powder approx. 0.30 aw
Couverture 0.30 aw
Milk Powder 0.20-0.25 aw
Fruits, nuts and other fillings typically have an aw-value of 0.40-0.90aw

Fillings:

Type Typical aw-values

Fat-based fillings as Gianduja
0.20-0.35 aw
or chocolate truffle fillings
Caramel 0.65-0.70 aw
Almond paste (marzipan) 0.73-0.80 aw
Sorbitol Powder approx. 0.30 aw
Couverture 0.30 aw

Chocolate without filling: 0.4-0.5 aw

Want to get more information about Novasina's water activity meters?

Please visit www.novasina.com

[1] Excerpt from http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/chocolate/from-pod2.asp

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