Organogels as novel ingredients for low saturated fat ice creams

- Organogels and milk cream led to ice cream mix with similar density and viscosity.
- Organogels produced ice cream with better overrun and melting starting time.
- Fat amount affected sample density, soluble solids, overrun and melting rate.

The aim of this work was to evaluate the use of sunflower oil organogels made with phytosterols and γ-oryzanol as milk cream substitutes in artisanal ice creams. Fat amount (4 and 8 g/100 g) and type (milk cream, sunflower oil, and organogels containing two levels of gelators) were considered as factors. The higher fat amount significantly decreased density (1.08 ± 0.01 g/mL vs 1.10 ± 0.01 g/mL) and soluble solid content (27.2 ± 0.3 °Bx vs 30.1 ± 0.3 °Bx) of mixes, as well as ice cream overrun (31.1 ± 0.6% vs 37.3 ± 0.6%) and melting rate (2.5 ± 0.1 g/min vs 2.9 ± 0.1 g/min). The use of organogels with the highest gelator concentration yielded ice creams with quality characteristics comparable to those of the samples containing milk cream, and even better overrun (42.4 ± 0.8% vs 37.1 ± 0.8%) and melting starting time (20 ± 1 min vs 16 ± 1 min). Thus, the application of organogels in artisanal ice creams is a successful approach in order to obtain “low saturated fat” products (saturated fat < 0.9 g/100 g) “with added plant sterols and stanols” intended for people who want to lower their blood cholesterol level.

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