The influence of agave fructans on thermal properties of low-fat, and low-fat and sugar ice cream

The thermal properties of low fat, and low fat and sugar ice cream formulations, in which agave fructans were used as a sugar and fat, were evaluated by Modulated Differential Scanning Calorimetry. Approximately 3.0 g/100 mL of agave fructans promoted a positive effect on thermal properties for both types of formulation, showing a significantly lower (P < 0.05) fraction of frozen water. The highest concentration of agave fructans resulted in the highest percentage of non-frozen water (P < 0.05). The addition of agave fructans led to a significantly higher (P < 0.05) glass transition temperature. Glass transition incited a change in heat capacity as moisture and agave fructans increased. Agave fructans had the ability to reduce the number and formation of ice crystals, and hence the melting temperature of ice cream. The samples with longer melting time resulted in a reduction of energy, showing low enthalpy values. The quantity of agave fructans used as fat and sugar replacer affected the infrared spectroscopy spectra, and led to an increase in the magnitude of the bands, especially in the O-H group that corresponds to polymeric hydrogen bonding between agave fructans and water.