Using maltitol and xylitol as alternative bulking agents in milk chocolate: modelling approach.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate optimal concentration of polyols (maltitol and xylitol) by applying mixture design for the formulation of milk chocolate. The influences of polyols as sucrose substitutes on the main physicochemical parameters and sensory perception were determined. The optimization of the variables demonstrated that utilizing 85.58% maltitol and 14.42% xylitol yielded the optimum milk chocolate with the highest desirability without unpleasant alterations in the quality characteristics. Chocolates possessing high concentrations of maltitol pleased the consumer demand. The outcomes indicated that sucrose replacement by polyols have potential in the formulation of reduced calorie milk chocolates. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13197-021-05268-1. © Association of Food Scientists & Technologists (India) 2021.