Dietary fibers effects on physical, thermal, and sensory properties of low-fat ice cream
Roberta Tolve, Matteo Zanoni, Giovanna Ferrentino, Rodrigo González, Lucia Sportiello, Matteo Scampicchio, Fabio Favati
Abstract
This study investigated the effect of incorporating dietary fibers, inulin, acacia, oat, and apple, in a low-fat vanilla ice cream. A significant increase in the ice cream mixture viscosity was observed with the addition of dietary fibers. Significant differences (p<0.05) were observed in the crystallization temperature when apple and oat fibers were used. Additionally, low-fat dietary fiber ice creams displayed statistically lower (p<0.05) glass transition and melting temperatures than full-fat ones, with the most pronounced reductions observed for samples enriched with acacia and apple fibers. Dietary fibers affected (p<0.05) the sensory profile of low-fat ice cream. However, inulin and acacia fibers samples showed a sensory profile comparable to the full-fat ice cream for nearly all attributes. These findings suggest that utilizing inulin and acacia fibers in low-fat ice cream yields characteristics of full-fat, underscoring the potential for crafting high-quality, reduced-fat ice cream products.