Progress 10/01/10 to 09/30/15
Outputs
Target Audience:The primary target audience includes major ice cream manufacturers as well as research scientists. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The main form of training relates to student learning. The graduate student who worked on the project has found employment within the frozen desserts industry and will use her knowledge to advance the field. Numerous undergraduate students were trained in research principles and analytical methods as part of this project as well. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Besides the one publication from 2014 (with 2 others in preparation), the results of this work have been presented widely at various conferences. Further, early results from this project were incorporated into Ice Cream 7th Edition, which is most likely the main technical resource for anyone interested in the science and technology of ice cream. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In this project, we target the first broad objective of improving quality of food through a better understanding of the role of fat in frozen desserts. Our specific objectives have been to characterize the changes in fat during ice cream manufacture and to correlate these changes to quality attributes, namely melt-down rate. We have developed and improved methods for measuring both the extent of fat destabilization in ice cream and the rate of ice cream melt-down. These tests will provide a benchmark for future studies on frozen desserts. We have conducted a survey of US frozen desserts, characterizing both structural measurements and sensory characteristics. Statistical analysis on these results suggests certain correlations, but the results are confounded by the lack of detailed information about formulation and process. Through control of both formulation and process parameters, we can control the level and extent of fat destabilization in ice cream, which gives us control over several important physical attributes, namely the melt-down properties. Based on a factorial design, we have documented the effects of both formulation and processing parameters on extent of partial coalescence. Specifically, extent of partial coalescence increases as polysorbate 80 content increases, as overrun increases and as shear rate in the freezer increases. The two most important parameters to control partial coalescence are emulsifier content and overrun. Fat content appears to have very little effect on extent of partial coalescence, except at the lowest level studies, 6%. For each product in the previous study, melt-down rate was measured by using a drip-through test. In general, ice creams with higher overrun and greater extent of partial coalescence melt slower and retain a greater amount of remnant foam on top the screen after complete melt-down. The network formed by the fat globule clusters and air cells appears to be sufficiently strong that it prevents complete collapse and drip-through of the ice cream. However, it appears there are other factors that significantly affect ice cream melting beyond overrun and fat globule clusters since the correlations are far from perfect. A better understanding of the dynamics during melt-down of ice cream is needed to be able to completely control the phenomenon and to rationally design reduced fat products with similar melting and sensory properties as full-fat versions.
Publications
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Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14
Outputs
Target Audience: The target audiences are ice cream manufacturers and consumers, as well as ice cream scientists. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The main form of training relates to student learning. A graduate student is trained by the PI, who then trains undergraduate students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Journal publication. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We will complete the experimental design that will allow us to correlate fat destabilization with melt-down rates of ice creams.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In this project, we target the first broad objective of improving quality of food through a better understanding of the role of fat in frozen desserts. Our specific objectives have been to characterize the changes in fat during ice cream manufacture and to correlate these changes to quality attributes, namely melt-down rate. We have developed and improved methods for measuring both the extent of fat destabilization in ice cream and the rate of ice cream melt-down. These tests will provide a benchmark for future studies on frozen desserts. Through control of both formulation and process parameters, we can control the level and extent of fat destabilization in ice cream, which gives us control over several important physical attributes, namely the melt-down properties.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Warren, MM, RW Hartel, Structural, compositional and sensorial properties of US commercial ice cream products, J Food Sci., 79(10), E2005-E2013 (2014).
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Progress 01/01/13 to 09/30/13
Outputs
Target Audience:
Nothing Reported
Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The main form of training relates to student learning. A graduate student is trained by the PI, who then trains undergraduate students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We are now conducting experiments under controlled conditions. For a specific ice cream mix, we are characterizing the effects of different freezing conditions (and types of freezers) on fat destabilization and melt-down rate. We are also varying the formulation of ice creams frozen under constant conditions to determine the effects of ingredients on fat destabilization and melt-down rates.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In this project, we target the first broad objective of improving quality of food through a better understanding of the role of fat in frozen desserts. Our specific objectives have been to characterize the changes in fat during ice cream manufacture and to correlate these changes to quality attributes, namely melt-down rate. We have developed and improved methods for measuring both the extent of fat destabilization in ice cream and the rate of ice cream melt-down. These tests will provide a benchmark for future studies on frozen desserts. We have conducted a survey of US frozen desserts, characterizing both structural measurements and sensory characteristics. Statistical analysis on these results suggests certain correlations, but the results are confounded by the lack of detailed information about formulation and process.
Publications
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Progress 01/01/12 to 12/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Work on analyzing the commercial ice cream products continues. We have performed statistical correlations that relate structural elements (ice crystal, air cell, and fat globule size distributions) to melt-down rate and informal sensory evaluations. While we have found some interesting correlations (and presented these at an international congress), we are not happy with the results. We have tried numerous structural parameters that will provide better correlations, but there are always outliers. We are exploring exactly what it is about these outliers that cause the poor correlation. We have also begun characterizing melt-down rates of these ice creams by a second method, one that considers the change in height rather than just drip through rate. We have identified a collapse model that should give us an empirical structure parameter from the melt-down study, which we then hope to correlate to a structure parameter developed from our analyses. PARTICIPANTS: Principal Investigator: Dr. Richard W. Hartel; Graduate student: Maya Warren; Undergraduate students: Michael Stresing, Carline Grassl. TARGET AUDIENCES: Ice cream manufacturers and consumers, as well as ice cream scientists. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Due to the broad scope of this study (the large number of commercial ice creams evaluated), we have a massive data set to analyze. To date, our results show that melt-down rates generally correlate with the extent of fat destabilization, but it seems that other factors are involved as well. Ice crystal size also correlates with melt-down, with larger ice crystals leading to faster melt-down. This is the reverse of the trend found in previous studies where all other factors have been controlled. These results have also generated several hypotheses about how fat globules and clusters interact with other structural elements as ice cream melts. Future studies will focus on exploring these hypotheses.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: We have collected >20 different types of commercial ice creams (dairy and nondairy) for analyses. We have characterized such properties as fat content, overrun, ice crystal and air cell size distributions, fat destabilization, and melt-down rate. Our aim is to determine the interrelationships among these parameters, particularly the fat destabilization level, on ice cream properties. Although we have analyzed numerous commercial samples, one particular focus has been three local ice cream products. The preliminary results of this study were presented at an international congress on ice cream in December, 2011. PARTICIPANTS: Principal Investigator: Dr. Richard W. Hartel; Graduate student: Maya Warren; Undergraduate student: Michael Stresing. WI companies: Babcock Hall Dairy Plant; Schoep's Ice Cream; Chocolate Shoppe TARGET AUDIENCES: Ice cream manufacturers and consumers, as well as ice cream scientists. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Due to the broad scope of this study (the large number of commercial ice creams evaluated), we have a massive data set to analyze. To date, our results show that melt-down rates generally correlate with the extent of fat destabilization, but it seems that other factors are involved as well. Ice crystal size also correlates with melt-down, with larger ice crystals leading to faster melt-down. This is the reverse of the trend found in previous studies where all other factors have been controlled. These results have also generated several hypotheses about how fat globules and clusters interact with other structural elements as ice cream melts. Future studies will focus on exploring these hypotheses.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: In the first few months of this project, we are conducting a survey of commercial ice cream samples. We have collected 15-20 different types of ice cream (dairy and nondairy) for analyses. We are characterizing such properties as fat content, overrun, ice crystal and air cell size distributions, fat destabilization, and melt-down rate. Our aim is to determine the interrelationships among these parameters, particularly the fat destabilization level, on ice cream properties. PARTICIPANTS: Principal Investigator: Dr. Richard W. Hartel; Graduate student: Maya Warren; Undergraduate student: Margaret Debrauske TARGET AUDIENCES: Ice cream manufacturers and consumers. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
We anticipate that the outcomes of this first phase of the project will be a better understanding of the role of fat (and other microstructural components) on the characteristics of ice cream.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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