Spontaneous pattern growth on chocolate surface: simulation and experiments

TL;DR

This study investigates spontaneous pattern formation on chocolate surfaces caused by fat bloom, combining experiments and simulations to understand the underlying nucleation and growth processes.

Contribution

It provides a combined experimental and theoretical analysis of spontaneous pattern growth on chocolate, validating the Avrami model and simulating nucleation with a coarse-grained molecular approach.

Findings

Patterns follow Avrami model trends

Nucleation process is consistent with simulations

Growth characterized by a specific time scale

Abstract

The natural variation of temperature at ambient conditions produces spontaneous patterns on the surface of chocolate, which result from fat bloom. These patterns are peculiar because of their shape and cannot be obtained by controlled temperature conditions. The formation of these spontaneous grains on the surface of chocolate is studied on experimental and theoretical grounds.Three different kinds of experiments were conducted: observation of formed patterns in time, atomic force microscopy of the initial events on the grain formation and rheology of the melted chocolate. The patterns observed in our experiments follow the trends described by the Avrami model, which considers that is possible to define a characteristic time scale that governs the growth of grains starting from germ nuclei. Through computer simulations, in the NVT ensemble using a coarse-grained model of triacylglycerides molecules, we studied the process of nucleation that starts the pattern growth and that is consistent with the Avrami model.