effects of using stevia and Isomalt sweetener to produce low calorie milk chocolate

Aside from its beneficial nutritional effects, chocolate causes but some problems for the consumer due to its high calorie. Use of good alternatives to fat and sugar is one of the ways to reduce these problems. In this study, the effects of isomalt and stevia on the qualitative properties for physicochemical rheological and sensorial characteristics of Low-calorie milk chocolate were investigated. Increased isomalt and stevia contents had no significant (p≤0.05) effect on fat, water activity, acidity, and color indexes L*, a*, b*, while they had significant (p≤0.05) effect on moisture, ash, and calorie. i. e. as the amount of isomalt and stevia increased, hardness, and calorie decreased and moisture, ash, and water activity increased. Of the two mathematical models evaluated to predict the rheological properties of chocolate, the Herschel Balkley model was found to be the most appropriate model for this purpose. Overall acceptability of the samples decreased with increasing stevia and isomalt substitution rates. Considering the best scores of physicochemical and sensory properties, T3 (60% Isomalt and Stevia +40% Sugar) was selected as the superior treatment.