This study aims at exploring ice cream meltdown behavior by changing the levels of stabilizer (ST), polysorbate 80 (PS80), and overrun (OR). By adjusting the formulation of ice cream, the degree of fat destabilization (FD), mix viscosity (MV), and overrun can be controlled within a certain range, which in turn presents different meltdown behaviors for study. In addition to the drip-through test, the shape of ice cream as it melts was recorded as height change to further investigate ice cream meltdown. Mix viscosity (at 50 s-1 ) and fat destabilization were found to have a significant effect not only on drip-through rate, but also the induction time, final weight of the drip-through part, height-change rate, and final height of melted ice cream. On the other side, overrun was found only to have an effect on meltdown when no stabilizers were added. These results indicate serum phase viscosity (mix viscosity) and fat destabilization are important parameters to describe ice cream meltdown. Besides, the entire ice cream meltdown curve and height collapse curve provide important information on ice cream meltdown behavior. PRACTICAL APPLICATION: A new direction of analysis of ice cream meltdown behavior is provided in this study. The induction time, the final drip-through weight, and the height change during the meltdown process were found to be the indicators on the influence of microstructure on ice cream meltdown behavior for the future study.
Keywords: fat destabilization; ice cream; meltdown; microstructure; viscosity.
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