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Sugar contributes with more than a full and sweet taste in ice cream. The sugar also adds body to the ice cream and keeps it soft. The challenge is therefore how to formulate ice cream with a full rich mouthfeel, a nice texture and perfect sweetness when removing and reducing the sugar.
From a formulation point of view, it is less comprehensive to formulate a sugar-reduced ice cream compared with a completely sugar-free ice cream, since it will require less adjustment of the ingredient list. In fact, it is possible to obtain a considerable reduction of not just the sugar content, but also of the fat by using a clean label ingredient.
By replacing part of the sugar with Orafti inulin fibres and fructose it is possible obtain an ice cream with 30% less sugar. Thanks to the smooth and creamy mouthfeel, the mild sucrose-like relative sweetness and no off-taste, it is possible to formulate a sugar reduced ice cream which is similar to full sugar ice cream. See recipe below.
In sensorial tests of ice cream – see figure 1 – the sugar reduced versions are similar to regular ice cream for all sensorial parameters tested such as “spoonability”, smooth texture, good body, creamy mouthfeel and taste profile.
In case that it would be needed, the creamy mouthfeel and body of ice cream can be further improved by adding REMYLINE rice starch.
Inulin/chicory root fibre
Rice starch
*Depending on local legislation.
|
INGREDIENTS (% w/w) |
REFERENCE |
SUGAR-REDUCED |
|
Water |
53 |
55
|
|
Cream |
23
|
23
|
|
Sugars |
13
|
7
|
|
Skimmed milk powder |
10 |
10 |
|
ORAFTI oligofructose |
– |
5 |
|
Minor ingredients |
q.s. |
q.s. |
SWEETLITE erythritol offers a very good alternative to sugar in ice cream enabling a reduction of the sugar and calories content. SWEETLITE is a sugar alcohol occurring naturally in a variety of foods and is produced commercially by fermentation. The relative sweetness is around 60-80 % compared to sucrose and when it comes to taste, erythritol compares well to sucrose in sweetness character. Unlike other polyols, SWEETLITE erythritol contains zero calories, it does not impact blood glucose or insulin secretion, and since it cannot be enzymatically degraded in the body it does not have the same laxative effect as other polyols.
Erythritol not only contributes to reducing calories. Until a certain point the bulk sweetener also improves texture and “spoonability” in ice cream due to the freezing point depression. However, since erythritol tends to crystallise in ice cream it cannot be used alone as it will then result in a very hard ice cream. It must therefore be accompanied by other ingredients.
Mouthfeel and creaminess can be recreated by adding inulin fibres such as ORAFTI GR. Having a mild sucrose-like relative sweetness, inulin is excellent for providing creaminess and a smoother mouthfeel to the ice cream. As an invisible fibre and a clean label ingredient, inulin will furthermore be a positive addition to the ingredients list of the end product among the health-conscious consumers.
To match the sweetness completely in the sugar-free ice cream, it will be necessary to add a sweetening ingredient e.g., the LOVIA sweetener platform from Layn which uses the mogrosides from monk fruit and selected glycosides from stevia. This sweetener combines the strengths and synergies of the two sweeteners, providing a rounded, longer lasting sweetness in the final product. This way, LOVIA makes up a good alternative to phenylalanine sources when you are opting from a “cleaner label” sugar-free ice cream.
Erythritol E968
Inulin/chicory root fibre
Michael Telsing
Area Sales Manager
+45 40 73 84 41
mt@alsiano.com
