Assessment of physical and physicochemical quality of main chocolates traded in Peru.

The quality of the main chocolates marketed in Peru was determined. The physical aspect: color (C *, H *, IB), hardness and particle size, as well as physicochemical: water activity (aw), moisture, fat and ash, correlating with the declaration of ingredients presented in the packaging. We evaluated 30 experimental units of chocolates (imported, domestic, dark chocolate and milk) by experimental methods, randomly acquired from different establishments. The difference between color and hardness by origin was attributed to the dairy component. Dark chocolate had lower values of color components (8.75 ± 0.94 C *, 7.60 ± 4.71 H * and 28.46 ± 0.86 IB) than milk constituents (15.04 ± 2.78 C, 34.59 ± 7.46 H * and 34.55 ± 2.87 IB) and in hardness values higher in imported (914 ± 176 g to 20 ± 2 ° C) than in domestic chocolate (788 ± 220 g to 20 ± 2 ° C). The particle size values did not present significant difference (p <0.05) between imported (19.1 ± 3.5 µ) and national (20.2 ± 1.5 µ). 37% of them had values of aw greater than 0.50 and a significant difference (p <0.05) was found between the imported (0.44 ± 0.10) and the national (0.47 ± 0.07). The moisture values were high, the fat content and ash, are within the specified by the normalization. It is necessary to control the quality of these products throughout the process line up to the final point of sale for consumer welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]