Textural analysis of fat reduced vanilla ice cream products

Sensory and instrumental analyses were used to evaluate the texture of regu lar (10%), light (5%), low fat (2.5%) and fat free vanilla (0.4%) ice cream s. The light, low fat and fat free ice cream were prepared using a modified pea starch as the fat replacement ingredient. Two processing trials with c ontinuous commercial-like process conditions were undertaken. While the sen sory attributes of the light sample were comparable to the regular vanilla ice cream, the trained sensory panel rated the low fat and fat free ice cre ams to have lower viscosity, smoothness and mouth coating properties. Instr umentally determined apparent viscosity data supported the sensory data. Th ere was good correlation between the instrumentally determined firmness val ues and the sensory results for firmness. The use of modified starch as a p artial fat replacer in vanilla ice cream was demonstrated. (C) 2001 Elsevie r Science Ltd. All rights reserved.