Effects of stabilizers on fat agglomeration and melting resistance in ice cream

Fat network is known as one essential element in development of ice cream infrastructure. The main goal in the study was to understand the effect of stabilizers on fat agglomeration during freezing in the presence and absence of emulsifier. Eight commercial ice creams were analyzed for particle size and melting properties. Additionally, ice cream mix was formulated to contain 10% milk fat, 10% milk solids-not-fat, 12% sucrose, 6% corn syrup solids, and 0.15% carboxymethylcellulose (CMC). The formulations also included mixes with and without 0.15% mono-and di-glycerides (MDG). Fat aggregation was indicated by D[4.3] and % particles above 10 μm as measured by a Malvern Mastersizer. Melting rate was defined as amount of dripped loss divided by melting time. Commercial ice cream analysis showed that ice cream with egg yolks (EY) and no stabilizers had no fat aggregates. Particle size distributions varied between ice cream brands. Ice creams with MDG or those with gums in addition to EY showed an increased aggregation. Ice cream without stabilizer had no fat aggregates and melted at the fastest rate. Gums decreased the melting rate and the melting properties were independent from particle size. Ice cream with only CMC showed the highest amount of fat aggregates and highest melting resistance. The effect was followed by ice cream made with both CMC and MDG, and only MDG. The amount of fat aggregates was highly correlated to the melting resistance of the ice creams. Ice cream with most melting resistance had greater amount of fat aggregates.