516 Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol.

2008, 110, 516–520

Research Paper
Use of fat replacers in the production of reduced-calorie vanilla
ice cream

Vildan Aykan1, Emel Sezgin1, Zeynep B. Guzel-Seydim1, 2

1
Department of Dairy Technology, Ankara University, Diskapi, Ankara, Turkey
2
Department of Food Engineering, Suleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Turkey

The purpose of this research was to determine the effects of different fat replacers on the sensory and
texture attributes of vanillin-flavored ice cream. Inulin is a fairly new fat replacer which has been proven to
be a health promoter. Two vanilla ice cream formulations were produced using different ratios of inulin
and Simplesse® as fat replacers to provide better flavor and textural properties. Aspartame and acesulfam-
K were used as sweeteners in the low-calorie ice creams. Sensory and instrumental analyses were used to
evaluate the texture quality of light (4.55%) (control group), low-fat (2%) and fat-free vanilla ice creams.
The experimental mixes were significantly more viscous than the control mix due to the water binding
capacity of carbohydrate- and protein-based substances. The texture scores of the ice creams (sensory
evaluation) paralleled the viscosity values. Ice creams manufactured with fat replacers were free of cooked-
milk flavor. The energy value of ice cream was reduced compared to full-fat ice cream (207 kcal/100 g): by
75% for non-fat ice cream, 71% for low-fat ice cream and 41% for light ice cream. An increase in total
solids in the mix resulted in better texture, a lower melting rate and better shape retention.

Keywords: Fat Replacer / Ice cream / Inulin / Simplesse

Received: November 19, 2007; accepted: January 22, 2008

DOI 10.1002/ejlt.200700277

1 Introduction in dairy products yet. Fibers should be included in the diet

In Turkey, there is a trend towards the increased consumption
of reduced-fat products due to well-known health problems
related to dietary saturated fat. As a result, there is a demand
for low-fat products. One area where this potential exists is the
production of fat-free or reduced-fat dairy products. Light,
low-fat and non-fat ice creams have undesirable flavor and
textural properties since fat is the major carrier of many flavor
compounds [1, 2]. The structure of ice cream is a three-com-
ponent foam made up of a network of fat globules and ice
crystals dispersed in a highly viscous aqueous phase [3]. It was
suggested that improvements in product formulations for
lower-fat ice creams were required to deliver the level of qual-
ity expected by consumers.
Fat replacers are important alternatives. Simplesse® is a
microparticulated whey protein that is widely used as a fat
replacer in dairy products. Inulin, however, has not been used
Correspondence: Zeynep B. Guzel-Seydim, Department of Food Engi-
neering, Suleyman Demirel University, 32260 Isparta, Turkey.
E-mail: zeyneps@sdu.edu.tr
Fax: 190-246-2370437
since they have beneficial effects for human health, with a
recommended daily intake of 0.025–0.030 kg/day for adults
[4]. Inulin is a storage carbohydrate consisting of a chain of
fructose molecules with a terminal glucose molecule. It may be
classified as a fructoligosaccharide and is present in more than
30,000 vegetable products [5]. Amongst these vegetables,
chicory roots are used for the production of inulin on an
industrial scale. It was discovered that inulin could act as a
substitute for fat with the advantage of having a very low
caloric value [6]. It behaves as dietary fiber, contributing to the
improvement of the gastrointestinal conditions [7]. Inulin and
oligofructose caused a significant reduction of DNA damage
[8]. Johannsen [9] reported that inulin has no toxic effect and
is recognized as safe in the human diet. Inulin has been
thought of as a prebiotic; some studies showed that it stimu-
lates the growth of bifidobacteria, which are regarded as ben-
eficial strains in the colon [10] and have been shown to inhibit
colon carcinogenesis in laboratory animal models [7, 11].
Inulin has also been reported to influence serum and liver lipid
concentration, short-chain fatty acid concentration in the
cecum, and fecal lipid excretion in rats [12]. Furthermore,
inulin is recommended for diabetics; since it is not absorbed, it

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Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol. 2008, 110, 516–520 517

does not affect the blood sugar level. Acesulfam-K and Table 1. Formulations of ice creams.
aspartame have no effect on the blood sugar level and have no
toxic effect in animals [13]. Use of inulin in low-fat plain-set- Ingredients Control Low-calorie Low-calorie
(light ice reduced-fat non-fat ice
type yogurts was acceptable [14]. Ohmes et al. [2] compared
cream) ice cream cream
fat-free ice creams prepared using various whey protein-based
[%] [%] [%]
fat replacers such as Dairy-Lo®, Prolo 11 and Sim-
plesse® 100. It was reported that the ice creams had a cooked Non-fat milk powder 9.1 11 11
flavor due to the addition of the protein-based fat replacers. Fat 4.6 1.6
The aim of this study was to investigate the quality prop- Sucrose 17.4
erties and sensory acceptability of low-calorie vanilla ice Glucose 2.72
cream products using different fat replacers and sweeteners. Stabilizer 0.4 0.21 0.21
Emulsifier 0.2 0.4 0.4
Vanillin 0.003 0.003 0.003
Maltodextrin 7 7
2 Materials and methods Inulin 5.7 6.2
Oligofructose 6.5 5.4
2.1 Manufacture of ice cream Simplesse 0.6 2.744
Aspartame 0.04 0.04
The ingredients used in this study were provided by compa- Asesulfame-K 0.02 0.02
nies as follows: non-fat milk powder (Arla Food Ingredients, Total solids 34.42 33.1 33.0
Denmark), butter (Birtat Co., Ankara, Turkey), Raftilin-GR Water 65.58 66.9 67.00
(.90% inulin, ,4% glucose and fructose; Orafti, Belgium),
Simplesse® 100 (Nutra-Sweet Kelko Co., San Diego, CA,
USA), oligofructose (Orafti, Belgium), maltodextrin
(Roquette Co., France), acesulfame-potassium (Vita Sweet),
stabilizer (Danisco, Copenhagen, Denmark), Admul MG
4143 emulsifier (mono- and diglyceride) (Quest, The Neth-
erlands), vanillin (Euro Vanillin, Norway).
The results of preliminary studies on flavor and mouth feel
were used to determine the concentrations of fat replacer,
sweetener, stabilizer and vanillin. Table 1 shows the constitu-
ents of the ice cream mixes. Ice cream was produced at the
Dondo Ice Cream Co. (Ankara, Turkey). For each sample, a
100-kg batch of ice cream mix was prepared. Three types of
ice cream were produced, a control group of light ice cream,
formulations of reduced-calorie and non-fat ice cream,
respectively. The control was produced from non-fat recon-
stituted milk, water, butter, sucrose, glucose, stabilizer, emul-
sifier and vanillin. Smaller amounts of butter, inulin and Sim-
plesse® as fat replacers, aspartame and acesulfame-K as
sweeteners, and maltodextrin and oligofructose as bulking
agents were used for the production of reduced-fat ice cream.
For the non-fat ice cream, ingredients were the same as for the
reduced-fat ice cream formulation except that no butter was
used. The recipes of the ice creams are shown in Table 1 and a
flow diagram for ice cream production is outlined in Fig. 1.
Figure 1. Ice cream production.
2.2 Mix and ice cream analyses

Titratable acidity, as % lactic acid, viscosity and protein sta-
bility tests were performed on the ice cream mixes [15, 16].
The samples of ice cream were analyzed for fat [16], pH (Nel-
890 pH meter), total solids with the gravimetric method,
% overrun [6], melting rate and shape retention [16, 17].
Sensory analyses were performed by ten panelists using a
complete randomized block design [6]. All samples were
coded with three random digit numbers and the serving order
was also randomized. The sensory evaluation ballot used is
shown in Table 2. The assessments were conducted at the
Department of Dairy Technology, Ankara University, Ankara,
Turkey. Panelists, with previous knowledge of sensory analysis
of dairy products, expectorated all samples as well as a cracker
and water that were used to clean the mouth between samples.

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518 V. Aykan et al. Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol. 2008, 110, 516–520

Table 2. Sensory evaluation ballot.

Property 5 Points 4 Points 3 Points 1–2 Points

Color and appearance Normal ice cream color Yellowish color Abnormal color Very bad unexpected
and appearance appearance, discoloration
Texture Normal and smooth texture Icy texture, low overrun Gummy texture, coarse icy very hardened texture
Taste and smell Excellent ice cream flavor Sweet taste, vanillin flavor Cooked flavor, whey flavor, Astringency, abnormal taste
and aroma, vanillin flavor syrup flavor
Overall acceptability Excellent Good Fair Bad
(Total scores) (13–15 points) (10–12 points) (9 points) (,9 points)

Table 3. Energy values of ingredients. Table 4. Properties of non-fat milk powder and butter.

Constituent Energy [kcal/g] Property Non-fat milk powder Butter

Sucrose 3.87 Moisture [%] 3.7 13

Fat 8.79 Total solids [%] 96.3 87
NFM 4.27 Fat [%] 0.2 86
Maltodextrin 3.84 pH 6.52 5.40
Inulin 1.0 Lactic acid [%] 0.13 0.10
Oligofructose 1.6
Simplesse 2.44
Aspartame 4.0
Asesulfame-K 4.0 Table 5. Some properties of the ice cream mixes.

Properties Control Low-calorie Low-calorie

reduced-fat non-fat ice
The caloric values (kcal) of the ice cream samples ice cream cream
were calculated according to Marshall and Arbuckle [18].
The kilocalorie values of the ingredients are shown in Lactic acid [%] 0.19 6 0.01a 0.49 6 0.007b 0.51 6 0.00b
Table 3. Viscosity [s] 45 6 0.00a 67 6 2.50b 121 6 1.00c
The data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance Protein stability 8 : 2a 5 : 5a 7 : 3a
(water/ethanol ratio)
(ANOVA) by the Statistical Analysis Systems. Duncan’s mul-
tiple range test was used to compare the means when a signif- a, b, c
icant variation was established by ANOVA at the significance Means within the same row with different superscripts are sig-
nificantly different (p ,0.05).
level 0.05 (p ,0.05). The experiment was replicated twice
with duplicate samples.
cantly different (p .0.05). Marshall and Arbuckle [18] stated
that such properties as acidity, fat, non-fat dry milk and water
3 Results and discussion content may affect the protein stability.
Some important properties of the ice cream samples are
The properties of the non-fat milk powder and butter are shown in Table 6. The pH of the ice cream samples was not
given in Table 4. Table 5 shows some properties of the ice significantly different. There was no significant difference in
cream mixes. The acidity of the control samples was signifi- total solids between the samples (p .0.05), and means ranged
cantly lower than that of the experimental mixes (p ,0.05) from 31.2 to 32%. The control contained 4.55% fat and clas-
due to its lower protein concentration. The control mix had sifies as light ice cream. Reduced-fat ice cream samples had
the lowest viscosity value. Since the experimental mixes con- 1.57% fat and low-fat ice cream samples had 0.2% fat and
tained the carbohydrate-based fat replacer inulin and the classify as low-fat and non-fat ice creams, respectively [18].
bulking agents oligofructose and maltodextrin, they were sig- Overrun values of samples were significantly different
nificantly more viscous (p ,0.05). It has been reported that (p ,0.05). There was less non-fat dry milk in the control for-
carbohydrate-based fat replacers have a high water binding mulation than in the other two formulations. Marshall and
capacity [18–21]. Bulking agents also increase the viscosity of Arbuckle [18] reported that a high concentration of non-fat
ice cream. The protein stability of the mixes was not signifi- dry milk in the formulation of ice cream reduces the overrun.

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Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol. 2008, 110, 516–520 519

Table 6. Some properties of the ice cream samples. melting rate than the control sample. Shape retention values
are given in Table 8. The use of inulin in the ice cream for-
Property Control Low-calorie Low-calorie mulation improved the textural properties. There were signif-
reduced-fat non-fat ice
icant differences between samples after holding for 30, 60 and
ice cream cream
90 min (p ,0.05). The energy value of the ice creams was
pH 6.53 6 0.005a 6.44 6 0.005b 6.42 6 0.01b important because our purpose was the production of low-
Fat [%] 4.55 6 0.05a 1.57 6 0.02b 0.2 6 0.00c calorie ice cream (Table 9).
Total solids [%] 31.85 6 0.09a 32.06 6 0.11a 32.04 6 0.03a Sensory evaluations and total scores of the ice creams are
Overrun [%] 80.08 6 0.96a 72.91 6 0.55b 77.95 6 0.33c shown in Fig. 2. The results showed that the average total
score of the low-fat ice cream was significantly better than
a, b, c
Means within the same row with different superscripts are sig- those of the other groups (p ,0.05). Adapa et al. [22] sug-
nificantly different (p ,0.05). gested using a good balance of fat, protein and carbohydrate
in the production of ice cream with desirable structure. The
low-fat ice cream that contained 1.5% milk fat, protein-based
Non-fat samples had a higher overrun than reduced fat sam- and carbohydrate-based fat replacers had the highest overall
ples because of the higher concentration of Simplesse® score. Cooked milk flavor in the ice creams containing pro-
(p ,0.05). Whey powders have a positive effect on the over- tein-based fat replacers has been reported [2]. Our sensory
run of ice creams [18]. data showed that the ice creams did not have whey and
The melting rates of the ice creams were not significantly cooked milk flavor due to the addition of inulin as a fat
different (p .0.05) (Table 7). Non-fat and reduced-fat ice replacer.
cream samples had a slightly lower melting rate due to the
higher water binding capacity of carbohydrate-based fat
replacers. Ohmes et al. [2] compared fat-free ice creams pre- Table 9. Energy values of the ice creams.
pared using various whey protein-based fat replacers such as
Control Low-calorie Low-calorie
Dairy-Lo®, Prolo 11 and Simplesse® 100. It was reported that
reduced-fat non-fat ice
the ice creams had a cooked flavor due to the addition of the ice cream cream
protein-based fat replacers. It was also reported that ice cream
containing Dairy-Lo, a modified whey protein, had a slower Fat [%] 4.55 1.57 0.2
Energy [kcal]§ 109.06 58.17 51.44
Energy reduction [%]$ 41.31 71.89 75.14
Table 7. Melting rates of the ice cream samples (%). Fat reduction [%]$ 62.08 86.91 98.33

Time Control Low-calorie Low-calorie §

reduced-fat non-fat ice kcal value of 100 g ice cream.
$
100 g of ice cream containing 12% fat has an energy value that is
ice cream cream
207 kcal.
6 min 0 0 0
First drip 15.25 6 1.25 min 16.25 6 0.75 min 17 6 0.5 min
30 min 6.06 6 0.08 5.64 6 0.08 4.92 6 0.17
60 min 37.45 6 1.25 36.95 6 1.25 35.45 6 1.25
90 min 68.85 6 1.45 66.90 6 2.7 66.50 6 0.30
120 min 92.59 6 0.25 91.83 6 1.53 90.29 6 0.50

Table 8. Shape retention values of the ice cream samples.

Time Control Low-calorie Low-calorie

[min] [%] reduced-fat non-fat ice
ice cream [%] cream [%]

6 100 100 100

30 85.99 6 1.79a 95.85 6 2.07b 97.12 6 0.73b
60 80.92 6 2.30a 88.03 6 0.56b 90.54 6 0.84b
90 59.76 6 0.78a 69.49 6 2.17b 71.73 6 0.14b
120 43.81 6 1.61a 46.07 6 0.21a 49.14 6 0.64a

a, b, c
Means within the same row with different superscripts are sig-
nificantly different (p ,0.05). Figure 2. Sensory evaluations of ice creams.

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520 V. Aykan et al.
4 Conclusions
Ice cream is a nutritional food having most of the milk con-
stituents, which are fat and carbohydrate in high amounts,
protein and minerals, especially calcium, in moderate
amounts, and vitamins, especially riboflavin and fat-soluble
vitamins, in lesser amounts. However, due to its high calorie
value, people who have diabetes and who do not want to con-
sume high-calorie food tend not to consume ice cream. In our
study, we used different recipes and made low-fat and non-fat
ice creams and compared those to light ice cream:
The experimental mixes were significantly more viscous
than the control due to the water binding capacity of carbo-
hydrate- and protein-based ingredients. The texture scores of
the ice creams (sensory evaluation) were parallel to the vis-
cosity values.
The energy value of the ice creams was reduced by 75%
for reduced-fat ice cream, 72% for non-fat ice cream and 41%
for light ice cream (control group) compared to full-fat ice
cream (207 kcal/100 g).
The increase in total solids in the mix resulted in a better
texture, a lower melting rate, lower overrun and better shape
retention. However, the control with a lower level of total
solids had the highest overrun. There was a negative correla-
tion between the amount of total solids in the ice cream mix
and the overrun of the ice cream.
Sensory evaluation of ice creams showed that the low-fat
ice cream had a better taste and texture than the other types.
Especially, since inulin is a prebiotic, it will be very useful for
application in ice creams cultured with probiotic bacteria. It
has health benefits and also gives taste and texture to low-fat
ice cream.
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