Recently, food scientists have tried to evaluate the impact of high-pressure technology on ice cream and found the mechanism leading to this change, which is the application of a mature technology in ice cream processing line.
HP processing is becoming more and more popular as a method of food preservation and sterilization, but it has not attracted the attention of scientists as a tool to improve the function of milk protein until recently.
Potential benefits
In the new study, scientists said their research showed that HP processing technology may have several important benefits for ice cream manufacturers.
These measures include the improvement of low-fat ice cream and the possibility of producing products that do not contain additives commonly used to prevent ice crystallization.
HP processing also allows ice cream manufacturers to reduce protein content without compromising texture or taste, thereby reducing raw material costs.
These benefits are due to the increased viscosity and melting resistance of HP processing.
To explain the mechanism behind these effects, the scientists said: "transmission electron micrographs show that there is a network of micellar fragments in the mixture treated by HP and the ice cream prepared from it, which is caused by HP induced destruction
"The micellar fragment network is considered to be the cause of the increase in viscosity and the decrease in melting, and is assumed to be the result of calcium induced casein aggregation at reduced pressure."
As a ready-made food technology, HP processing has a new application direction. If this technology is applied to the ice cream processing line, the resulting reduction of production cost and improvement of production efficiency will greatly promote the development of the ice cream processing line.