Soybean oil body (SOB) has potential as a milk fat substitute due to its ideal emulsification, stability and potential biological activity. In a Chinese study, SOB was used as a milk fat substitute to prepare ice cream, expecting to reduce the content of saturated fatty acid and improve the quality defects of ice cream products caused by the poor stability of milk fat at low temperatures.
This study, published in Foods journal, investigated the effect of SOB as a milk fat substitute (the substitution amount was 10-50%) on ice cream through apparent viscosity, particle size, overrun, melting, texture, sensory and digestive properties. The results show SOB substitution for milk fat significantly increased the apparent viscosity and droplet uniformity and decreased the particle size of the ice cream mixes, indicating that there were lots of intermolecular interactions to improve ice cream stability. In addition, ice cream with 30% to 50% SOB substitution had better melting properties and texture characteristics. The ice cream with 40% SOB substitution had the highest overall acceptability. Furthermore, SOB substitution for milk fat increased unsaturated fatty acid content in ice cream and fatty acid release during digestion, which had potential health benefits for consumers. Therefore, SOB as a milk fat substitute may be an effective way to improve the nutritional value and quality characteristics of dairy products.
