Coupled population balance and heat transfer model for the description of ice recrystallization during long-term storage of ice cream

•A recrystallization model was developed using population balance equation.•The model describes separately growth and dissolution of the ice crystals.•An accurate description of the average diameter for two ice creams was obtained.•Crystal dissolution controlled recrystallization rate at the beginning of storage.•The activation energy was the most significant model input parameter.

A coupled population and energy balance model describing separately growth and dissolution of the ice crystals was developed to simulate recrystallization by Ostwald ripening during long-term storage of ice cream. The model reproduced accurately (R2 > 0.90) measurements of the ice crystal average diameter for two ice creams (ICA and ICB) stored at temperatures between −5 and −18 °C for 104 days. Simulations indicated that ice crystal dissolution controls recrystallization during the early stages of storage, after which both growth and dissolution occur at decreasing rates. Carrageenan, ICB primary stabilizer, seemed to better preserve small ice crystals than locust bean gum, ICA primary stabilizer, by reducing ice crystal growth and dissolution rates. A sensitivity analysis indicated that the activation energy for ice crystal dissolution is the most significant model parameter and that the impact of heat transfer parameters is negligible because of the rapid change of the ice cream temperature.