Dry cacao pulp in chocolate bars: A sustainable, nutrient-rich sweetener with enhanced sensory quality through refractance windows drying

Cacao pulp, known for its sweet flavour, pleasant aroma, and rich nutritional content, is often discarded during cacao seeds fermentation through contaminating as so-called cacao sweatings. This study explores the potential of cacao pulp on dry powder presentation, which in turn can offer better features as a commercial product, as a natural sweetener that could replace refined sugar, either partially or wholly, in chocolate bar formulations. For drying cacao pulp refraction windows drying (RWD) technology on a pilot scale was utilized. The drying process was studied under three operational temperatures (70, 80, and 90 degrees C) and pulp thicknesses (1, 2, and 3 mm) until reaching an equilibrium moisture content of 0,12 g water/g solid across all conditions. Preservation of the nutritional and functional composition of the dried cacao pulp was assessed through measurements of phenolic compounds, vitamin C, colour, and sugar content. Equilibrium moisture was achieved within 40-60 minutes. The processed pulp exhibited high retention of phenolic compounds (79,4% to 80,5%) and vitamin C (73,5% to 75,5%), with low water activity (0,260 to 0,291). Consumer acceptance of chocolate bars formulated with natural sweetener that could totally (100% dried cacao pulp) and/or partially (50 y 75% dried cacao pulp) replace refined sugar in the formulation was evaluated via sensory analysis by 115 Colombian consumers, employing hedonic tests. The resulting chocolate bars, especially those formulated with 50% Cacao pulp as sweetener, were well-received, indicating up to 75% sugar replacement without significant consumer resistance.