Ice Cream as a Vehicle for Incorporating Health‐Promoting Ingredients: Conceptualization and Overview of Quality and Storage Stability

Abstract

Ice cream is a product with peculiar textural and organoleptic features and is highly appreciated by a very broad spectrum of consumers. Ice cream's structure and colloidal design, together with its low-temperature storage, renders it a very promising carrier for the stabilization and in vivo delivery of bioactive compounds and beneficial microorganisms. To date, many applications related to the design and development of functional ice cream have been documented, including products containing probiotics, prebiotics, synbiotics, dietary fibers, natural antioxidants such as polyphenols, essential and polyunsaturated fatty acids, and low glycemic index blends and blends fortified with mineral or trace elements. In this review, promising strategies for the incorporation of innovative functional additives to ice cream through the use of techniques such as microencapsulation, nanoemulsions, and oleogels are discussed, and current insights into the implications of matrix, processing, and digestion on bioactive compounds in frozen dairy desserts are comprehensively reviewed, thereby providing a holistic overview of the current and emerging trends in this functional food sector.

In vitro gastrointestinal resistance of Lactobacillus acidophilus La-5 and Bifidobacterium animalis Bb-12 in soy and/or milk-based synbiotic apple ice creams

“…The dynamic freezing process may cause damage to the probiotic microorganisms and may reduce their viability, possibly due to stress caused by the incorporation of air and freezing, which may damage the cell wall or promote a plasmatic membrane rupture given the eventually formation of ice crystals inside and outside the cell(Cruz et al, 2009). Moreover, low freezing rates associated with slow low ice nucleation have also been reported to be associated with plasmolysis(Soukoulis et al, 2014). Our results of overrun do not seem to have influenced the viability.…”

“…Nevertheless, this behaviour might be associated with the higher levels of the whey protein isolate (WPI) present, since WPI may have interfered with the adaptation of the probiotic strain in this food matrix. In fact, according to Soukoulis et al (2014) the sub-lethal impact of each factor may vary from insignificant…”

Replacing sugar with S. rebaudiana extracts on the physicochemical and sensory properties of strawberry ice cream

“…Reducing sugar typically causes changes in the colligative properties of the ice cream (e.g. fraction of frozen water, and glass transition temperature) and the rheological properties due to the change in the size and shape of the crystals (SOUKOULIS et al, 2014;CAILLET et al, 2003). Therefore the aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of replacing sugar with different levels of extracts of S. rebaudiana Morita II and Criolla, on the physicochemical and sensory properties of strawberry ice cream.…”

Viability of Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4356 incorporated into ice cream using three different methods

“…Furthermore, they must show the ability to attach themselves to the interior of the intestinal wall. Among dairy products, ice cream is known to be an ideal product for the delivery of probiotic bacteria to the human host (Cruz et al 2009;Ferraz et al 2012;Soukoulis et al 2014). However, temperature change, also referred to as "cold shock", during freezing and melting may cause damage such as reduction or even complete loss of metabolic activity (Haynes and Playne 2002;Mohammadi et al 2011).…”