Improvement of Ice Cream Quality by Oleogel Full-replacement Premix Powder

To obtain healthy and low-fat ice cream products, beeswax oleogel-based ice cream premix (BW-P) was prepared by fully replacing hydrogenated palm kernel oil (HPKO) with medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oleogel. The powder properties and the enhancing effect on ice cream quality characteristics were investigated. The results showed that compared with commercial premix (C-P), both BW-P and HPKO-based ice cream premix (HPKO-P) had higher moisture content, lower fluidity and solubility. Scanning electron microscopy observation revealed that both BW-P and HPKO-P exhibited a spherical morphology. After reconstitution, the emulsion particle sizes of HPKO-P and BW-P were mainly in the range of 1~10 μm, while that of C-P was larger (10~100 μm). Microrheological measurements indicated that the reconstituted emulsion of BW-P had a longer decorrelation time and a dense fat network, which was similar to C-P. The BW-P ice cream showed a lower overrun (45.3%) and higher hardness (15.1 kPa), with uniform appearance color and intact shape. This sample had a slow melting rate and a slight greasy feeling, and its oral tribological properties and electronic tongue scores were close to those of C-P, exhibiting good potential to replace HPKO in the preparation of ice cream premix powder.