Functionality of low digestibility emulsions in cocoa creams. Structural changes during in vitro digestion and sensory perception

Abstract The objective of this work was to evaluate the application of low digestibility oil/water emulsions as fat source in a cocoa cream. Emulsions were composed by water, sunflower oil and cellulose ethers or xanthan gum. Back extrusion assays were measured before and after in vitro digestion and free fatty acids release were measured to evaluate the fat digestibility. Finally consumer acceptability was carried out to determine the degree of liking of each system. The results revealed that all the emulsions confer a suitable consistency to the creams and the structure provided by the hydrocolloids was resistant to digestion, reducing the fat digestibility. However, after gastric digestion only cream with xanthan gum showed a significant increase in consistency what it could be related with an increase in satiety. Regarding the sensory characteristics, the cream elaborated with xanthan gum was rated close to the control cream that received the highest scores.