| dc.description.abstract | It was identified that there is a potential market for a low fat, low carbohydrate, high protein frozen dessert that has similar sensory attributes to ice cream. Such a product could be utilized by athletes, obesity sufferers and anyone seeking a healthy alternative to ice cream. Ingredients were sourced that could replace and replicate those found in traditional ice cream products.
A key challenge in producing the dessert was identifying suitable ingredients to control the freezing point depression (FPD). Fructose, erythritol, xylitol and polydextrose were identified as being suitable options and 18 prototype formulae were generated using Design-Expert® V8 software to try and find the best combination of these four ingredients. Ingredients used in fixed amounts were water, whey protein isolate, Simplesse® 100, vanilla flavour, Novagel GP 3282, carboxy methyl cellulose and mono/di-glycerides. The prototype desserts were prepared using a Breville Ice Cream Wizz. The hardness and viscosity of each prototype was measured, and the internal structures of selected prototypes were analysed using cryo-SEM. The results were compared to regular ice cream products, and then the formulation was optimized accordingly using the software.
The optimum prototype contained 11.6% protein, 14.3% carbohydrate and only 1.6% fat. It was estimated that if taken to market, the finished product could have a recommended retail price of $10.18 for 1L, placing it in the lower end of the premium ice cream products range. Using a 9-point hedonic scale, this optimised prototype received an overall appeal score of 7.18 ± 1.08 from a consumer panel, with a score of 7 corresponding to ‘Like Moderately’ and a score of 8 corresponding to ‘Like Very Much’. However it received a lower score than the regular ice cream control (8.35 ± 0.77), and the difference was found to be statistically significantly (p<0.05). Despite this, due to its high protein and low fat contents, this unique product could fill a niche in the market, particularly if its consumer appeal could be further increased.
Future work should study the effect of increasing the air content in order to produce a softer product with a more favourable texture. Carbohydrate content should be lowered as product becomes softer and efforts should be made to correlate the relationship between FPD, hardness and overrun. | |
