THE CONCEPT OF FUNCTIONAL CHOCOLATE PRODUCT INNOVATION COMBINING CARTHAMUS TINCTORIUS LINN FOR COCOA PROCESSING SMES: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW BASED ON PRISMA 2020

Cocoa-processing SMEs need product differentiation, while the functional-food trend opens opportunities for herbal ingredients. Carthamus tinctorius Linn (safflower) is rich in phenolics and flavonoids but has not been explored in chocolate. This study formulates a functional chocolate product-innovation concept combining safflower for cocoa SMEs through a PRISMA 2020 systematic review. Six databases yielded 1,745 records; 29 studies were synthesised thematically and complemented by a semi-structured interview with one cocoa SME owner in Makassar. No study examined safflower–chocolate combinations directly, so conclusions rest on analogical inference. Plant-based enrichment consistently raised antioxidant activity in chocolate but altered viscosity, colour and moisture; safflower showed a biphasic effect, and hot-water extracts performed better on several functional endpoints. The proposed concept is a premium botanical functional chocolate with a local narrative, developed in stages (petal powder, dried aqueous extract, encapsulation) with claims limited to antioxidant content.