Fat to Ice Cream Texture and Flavor

Fat contributes greatly to the flavor and texture of ice cream. Several studies have discussed flavor and textural aspects of various fat sources (Abd El-Rahman et al., 1997), non-fat sources to provide fat-like properties ( fat replacers Ohmes et al. 1998 Adapa et al., 2000 Aime et al., 2001) and the effect of fat on sensory properties (Guinard et al., 1997 Roland et al., 1999 Prindiville et al., 1999) and flavor perception (Li et al., 1997 Hyvonen et al., 2003) of ice cream. 

In addition to positive aspects, numerous flavor and textural defects may be associated with the fat phase of ice cream. Such flavor defects are usually related to either autoxidation of the fat, resulting in oxidized flavors (cardboardy, painty, metallic) or, especially in the case of milk-fat, lipolysis of free fatty acids from triglycerides by the action of lipases (referred to as hydrolytic rancidity). A significant content of free butyric acid gives rise to very undesirable rancid flavors. These defects tend to be present in the raw ingredients used in ice cream manufacture, rather than promoted by the ice cream manufacturing process itself. However, processing 

Abd El-Rahman, A.M., Madkor, S.A., Ibrahim, F.S., Kilara, A. 1997. Physical characteristics of frozen desserts made with cream, anhydrous milk fat or milk fat fractions. J. Dairy Sci. 80, 1926-1935. 

Dingeldein, H., Schmidt, K.A., Herald, T.J. 2000. Rheological properties of ice cream mixes and frozen ice creams containing fat and fat replacers. J. Dairy Sci. 83, 2224-2229. Adleman, R., Hartel, R.W. 2002. Lipid crystallization and its effect on the physical structure of ice cream. In Crystallization Processes in Fats and Lipid Systems (N. Garti, K. Sato, eds.), pp. 381-427, Marcel Dekker, New York. 

Arntfield, S.D., Malcolmson, L.J., Ryland, D. 2001. Textural analysis of fat reduced vanilla ice cream products. Food Res. Int. 34, 237-246. 

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