Avaliação do processo e determinação do teor de metais presentes em recheios compostos sabor chocolate obtidos por meio de moagem mecânica

Abstract

The consumption of chocolates and cocoa products is growing annually. At the same time, several studies have demonstrated possible contamination of heavy metals in these products, from raw materials or stages of the process, concerning industries and consumers. This work analyzed the influence of the mixing and grinding steps during the manufacture of Chocolate Flavor Fillings in relation to the presence of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, chromium, iron, manganese and nickel, and compared the quantified levels with the limits required by legislation. . The products Dark Chocolate Filling and Covering, Milk Chocolate Flavoring and Covering and White Chocolate Flavoring and Covering were quantified during the initial mixing of the raw materials, after the first grinding stage, and after the second grinding stage, which characterizes the product as ready. The analyzes were carried out through the acidic digestion heated by microwaves of the samples and determined via Optical Emission Spectroscopy with Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP-OES). The samples taken from the shell equipment, characterized by the initial mixing of the ingredients, show contamination by Cd, Pb, Cu, Cr, Fe, Mn and Ni from the raw materials. The results found for As did not obtain levels above the limit of quantification in any sample. When the process is analyzed in general, of the 24 samples analyzed, 20 results demonstrate a decrease in the quantification of metals, illustrating that throughout the process, there is no contamination of the chocolate masses by the influence of the equipment. Some metals obtained high levels in intermediate stages, due to the inhomogeneity of the samples at the time of collection, deviations during the digestion of the samples or during the analysis of ICP-OES. [resumo fornecido pelo autor]