FROZEN CONFECTION

Abstract

The invention relates to frozen confections such as water ices, fruit ices, sorbets and the like. Frozen confections such as water ices, fruit ices, sorbets and the like are popular with consumers. A particular characteristic of these products, though, is that they are perceived to have a weak flavour. Thus the invention provides a frozen confection comprising: (a) 0.001 to 6, preferably 0.01 to 2, most preferably 0.1 to 2% w/w edible oil with a melting temperature of ?40 to 20, preferably ?40 to 10 degrees centigrade; (b) 0.01 to 2.0, preferably 0.1 to 1% w/w plant fibre; (c) 1 to 30, preferably 2 to 25% w/w freezing point depressant; (d) 0.001 to 5, preferably 0.001 to 2, most preferably 0.001 to 0.5% w/w one or more flavours; and wherein the frozen confection has an overrun of 5 to 200, preferably 5 to 100, most preferably 5 to 50%, wherein the preparation of the frozen confection comprises an homogenisation step, wherein the plant fibre comprises: at least 50, preferably at least 70% w/w cellulose and hemicellulose; 5-30, preferably 5-20% w/w pectin; and less than 5% w/w lignin, wherein the plant fibre has a water binding capacity before the homogenisation step of more than 800% by weight and after the homogenisation step of more than 1000, preferably more than 2000, more preferably more than 3000% by weight.

Claims

1. A frozen confection comprising: (a) 0.001 to 6, preferably 0.01 to 2, most preferably 0.1 to 2% w/w edible oil with a melting temperature of ?40 to 20, preferably ?40 to 10 degrees centigrade; (b) 0.01 to 2.0, preferably 0.1 to 1% w/w plant fibre; (c) 1 to 30, preferably 2 to 25% w/w freezing point depressant; (d) 0.001 to 5, preferably 0.001 to 2, most preferably 0.001 to 0.5% w/w one or more flavours; and wherein the frozen confection has an overrun of 5 to 200, preferably 5 to 100, most preferably 5 to 50%, wherein the preparation of the frozen confection comprises an homogenization step, wherein the plant fibre is citrus fibre or sugar cane fibre and comprises: at least 50, preferably at least 70% w/w cellulose and hemicellulose; 5-30, preferably 5-20% w/w pectin; and less than 5% w/w lignin, wherein the plant fibre has a water binding capacity before the homogenisation step of more than 800% by weight and after the homogenisation step of more than 1000, preferably more than 2000, more preferably more than 3000% by weight.

2. A frozen confection according to claim 1, wherein the plant fibre is citrus fibre.

3. A frozen confection according to claim 1, wherein the one or more flavours has a log P?4.0, preferably ?3.0.

4. A frozen confection according to claim 1, wherein the one or more flavours has a log P?1.0.

5. A frozen confection according to claim 1, wherein the edible oil is selected from the group consisting of sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, fish oil, cottonseed oil, flaxseed oil, walnut oil, hempseed oil, almond oil, olive oil, safflower oil, soybean oil, peanut oil, corn oil, grape seed oil, canola oil and mixtures thereof.

6. A frozen confection according to claim 1 comprising ?55, preferably ?60% w/w ice.

7. A frozen confection according to claim 1 comprising ?80, preferably ?75% w/w ice.

8. A frozen confection according to claim 1 in the form of any one of a milk ice, water ice and sorbet.

9. A frozen confection according to claim 1 in the form of a moulded product.

10. A frozen confection according to claim 1, additionally comprising 0.1 to 7, preferably 1 to 7% w/w protein, preferably milk protein.

11. A frozen confection according to claim 1, additionally comprising an emulsifier at an edible oil:emulsifier weight ratio of 40:1 to 10:1.

12. A frozen confection according to claim 1, additionally comprising at least one stabilizer selected from the group consisting of locust bean gum, xanthan, guar gum, carrageenan, starch, and mixtures thereof.

13. A frozen confection according to claim 1, wherein the freezing point depressant is selected from the group consisting of monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, sugar alcohols, salts and mixtures thereof.

14. A frozen confection according to claim 13 wherein the freezing point depressant is selected from the group consisting of monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides containing from 3 to 10 monosaccharide monomers, erythritol, arabitol, glycerol, xylitol, sorbitol, mannitol, lactitol, malitol and mixtures thereof.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0026] Preferably the plant fibre has a moisture content of less than 10% w/w.

[0027] The plant fibre is citrus fibre or sugar cane fibre.

[0028] Preferably the one or more flavours has a log P?4.0, preferably ?3.0. Preferably the one or more flavours has a log P?1.0.

[0029] The term log P is the partition coefficient at 20 degrees centigrade and means, for the purposes of this specification:

[00002]$\log .Math..Math.\left(\frac{{\left[\mathrm{solute}\right]}_{\mathrm{octanol}}}{{\left[\mathrm{solute}\right]}_{\mathrm{deionised}.Math..Math.\mathrm{water}}}\right)$

[0030] The edible oil may be selected from the group consisting of sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, fish oil, cottonseed oil, flaxseed oil, walnut oil, hempseed oil, almond oil, olive oil, safflower oil, soybean oil, peanut oil, corn oil, grape seed oil, canola oil and mixtures thereof.

[0031] Preferably the frozen confection comprises ?55, preferably ?60% w/w ice. Preferably the frozen confection comprises ?80, preferably ?75% w/w ice.

[0032] The ice content of the frozen confections of the invention is calculated from the colligative freezing point depression of low molecular weight molecules present in the formulation. Preferably the freezing point depressants are selected from the group consisting of monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides, sugar alcohols, salts and mixtures thereof. Most preferably the freezing point depressants are selected from the group consisting of monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides containing from 3 to 10 monosaccharide monomers, erythritol, arabitol, glycerol, xylitol, sorbitol, mannitol, lactitol, malitol and mixtures thereof.

[0033] Preferably the frozen confection is in the form of any one of a milk ice, water ice and sorbet.

[0034] Preferably, the frozen confection is in the form of a moulded product.

[0035] The frozen confection may additionally comprise 0.1 to 7, preferably 1 to 7% w/w protein, preferably milk protein. The frozen confection may also additionally comprise an emulsifier at an edible oil:emulsifier weight ratio of 40:1 to 10:1. Preferably the frozen confection also additionally comprises at least one stabilizer selected from the group consisting of locust bean gum, xanthan, guar gum, carrageenan, starch, and mixtures thereof.

Example 1

Real Time Flavour Release In-Vivo Assessment

[0036] Herbacel AQ+ citrus fibre (Herbafood Ingredients GmbH)

[0037] Glucose 28 DE (Cargill)

[0038] Sucrose ester S1670 (Ryoto)

[0039] Water ice solutions were prepared with 16.5% w/w sugar, 5.5% w/w glucose, 0.2% w/w locust bean gum, 0.2% w/w citric acid and varying amounts of citrus fibre (0, 0.7 and 2% w/w) and sunflower oil (0, 2 and 5% w/w). Sucrose ester was used as an emulsifier at a weight ratio of oil:emulsifier of 20:1. The solutions were homogenized using a high speed stirrer at 6000 rpm at atmospheric pressure. A flavour compound was added at a concentration of 0.015% w/w to the solutions after homogenisation. The solutions were then frozen to ?20? C. in a blast freezer and subsequently stored at ?18? C. until required for testing. Flavour compounds were selected from ethyl heaxanoate, ethyl butyrate, and ethyl octanoate.

[0040] In-vivo flavour release measurements were conducted on 6 g test samples to measure the flavour area under the curve (AUC) by proton transfer reaction mass spectroscopy (PTR-QMS 400, Ionicon) (PTR-MS). PTR-MS is a direct mass spectrometric soft ionisation method based on gas phase proton transfer with protonated water. This method can be used for real time measurement providing an instant response to concentration changes and data points being collected every few milliseconds. A heated nose piece enables measurement of the volatile aroma compounds released in breath via the nose of 4 panelists. The intensity of the response for each flavour compound mass fragment was measured over time and the area under the curve calculated.

Results

[0041] The results are presented in the form of normalised (to control) area under the curve (AUC) and summarized in Table 1, from which it is clear that the addition of 2% w/w sunflower oil to the water ice formulation improved the flavor release by a factor of approximately 1.5. Similarly the addition of 0.5 or 0.7% w/w citrus fiber alone also increased the total AUC by the same order of magnitude as for the sunflower oil. Surprisingly the combination of citrus fiber and sunflower oil increased the normalized AUC by a factor of more than 2.5.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Normalized in-vivo flavor release area under curve (AUC) of citrus fibre and sunflower containing water ices with various flavour compounds. N = 4. Log P Flavour [flavour AUG Water ice compound compounds] (normalized) (Control) Ethyl hexanoate 2.83 1.00 2% w/w sunflower oil Ethyl hexanoate 2.83 1.62 0.5% w/w citrus fibre Ethyl hexanoate 2.83 1.92 0.7% w/w citrus fibre Ethyl hexanoate 2.83 1.72 2% w/w sunflower oil + Ethyl hexanoate 2.83 2.66 0.7% w/w citrus fibre (Control) Ethyl butyrate 1.8 1.00 2% w/w sunflower oil Ethyl butyrate 1.8 1.21 0.7% w/w citrus fibre Ethyl butyrate 1.8 1.48 2% w/w sunflower oil + Ethyl butyrate 1.8 1.51 0.7% w/w citrus fibre (Control) Ethyl octanoate 3.8 1.00 2% w/w sunflower oil Ethyl octanoate 3.8 2.10 0.7% w/w citrus fibre Ethyl octanoate 3.8 2.03 2% w/w sunflower oil + Ethyl octanoate 3.8 2.69 0.7% w/w citrus fibre

[0042] Similar results were seen with other flavour compounds. The results seem to indicate that the observed benefit is more evident for flavour compounds with log P<3. The differences between ethyl hexanoate (log P 2.83) and ethyl octanoate (log P 3.8) are small when compared with ethyl butyrate (log P 1.8).

Conclusion

[0043] Overall, the total flavour release (AUC) measured in-vivo was higher when sunflower oil was in combination with citrus fibers, rather than when each was added alone. A synergistic effect by these two ingredients is observed with different flavour compounds and the increase in synergistic benefit is more pronounced when the log P of the flavor compounds ?3.

Example 2

Time Intensity Sensorial Evaluation

[0044] Sugar cane fibre (Watson)

[0045] Water ices were prepared as described in Example 1 but initially using a high speed stirrer at 600 rpm and then by passing the samples through a bench scale homogenizer set to 600 bar pressure. The flavour compound was ethyl butyrate used at a concentration of 0.015% w/w.

[0046] The time Intensity methodology is a method of sensory profiling that measures how an individual attribute changes in time, in this case flavour intensity was measured. The data was recorded using the FIZZ sensory data capture system (Fizz, software Biosystemes, Couternon, France). The system records two measures per second over 180 seconds. Three parameters were calculated from the data, namely: [0047] FirstNil (the length of time during which the flavour is perceived (lingering effect)) [0048] FirstMax50 (the length of time to 50% of the Maxvalue (boost effect)) [0049] MaxValue (maximum flavour intensity)

[0050] Having obtained the parameters of interest for all the complete curves, the next step is to standardize these values so that each parameter has mean zero and unit standard deviation, for each panellist. This is done in order to overcome the problem that different panellists can have vastly different basic shapes to their time intensity curves. Some panellists may always have relatively low maximum values no matter what product they are testing, others may always have relatively short time spans. By standardising the curves within a panellist the effects of the differences in basic shape are reduced.

[0051] Due to the possible occurrence of incomplete curves and also because the achieved design may be incomplete, a further step is needed. This is to estimate the standardised parameter values for any curves missing from the complete design, by fitting an ANOVA model to the standardised values and obtaining estimated values for the missing curves.

[0052] The complete data (i.e. standardised data plus the predicted values) are then re-standardised to give mean zero and unit standard deviation for each parameter for each panellist. Only the re-standardised data for those curves which were originally non-missing are used in the analysis.

[0053] 16 panellists put a 6 gram test sample in their mouth and tasted and swallowed the product. They were asked to score continuously during 3 minutes on the intensity of the flavour on a continuous line scale from 0-100. The test samples were tested in random order in triplicate. The samples were measured under red light condition and served at ?18? C. To clean their palate, cream crackers and tap water were used. There was a four minute break between each test sample.

[0054] A sixteen point scale of intensity using reference standards, available to the panellists at all times was used comprising citric acid solutions at 0.16, 0.32, 0.48, 0.64 and 0.80 g/L corresponding to scores of 2, 5, 8, 11 and 14 on the scale.

Results

[0055] The results are presented in Table 2 from which it is clear that for the combination of citrus fibre and sunflower oil, the addition of sunflower oil alone did not show any significance differences when compared against the Control. The addition of citrus fibre alone slowed down the speed of release (increased the FirstMax50), increased the lingering effect (FirstNil) significantly when compared against the Control, but did not improve the perceived intensity of the flavour (MaxValue). In contrast, the combination of sunflower oil and citrus fiber showed an increase of speed of release compared to citrus fiber alone (lower FirstMax50), improved the lingering effect although not significantly (FirstNil), and increased the MaxValue significantly.

[0056] For the combination of sugar cane fibre and sunflower oil, the addition of sugar cane fiber alone slowed down the speed of release (increased the FirstMax50), increased slightly the lingering effect (FirstNil), and did not intensify the flavour perception (MaxValue). On addition of sunflower oil to the sugar cane fiber the speed of release remained the same, the lingering effect improved (from 0.0617 to more than 0.3912) and the MaxValue again increased significantly.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Time intensity sensorial evaluation of the flavour intensity of water ices. FirstNil is indicative of a long-lasting flavour. MaxValue and FirstMax50 are together indicative of a more intense flavor. n = 48. Different letters indicate significant difference (p < 0.05). FirstNil MaxValue FirstMax50 (Control) ?0.5841 b ?0.4809 b ?0.2920 c 2% w/w sunflower oil ?0.4723 b ?0.0428 b ?0.5112 c 0.7% w/w citrus fibre 0.4881 a ?0.0832 b 0.6205 a 2% w/w sunflower oil + 0.5684 a 0.6068 a 0.1826 b 0.7% w/w citrus fibre (Control) ?0.9160 b ?0.4570 b ?0.6592 b 0.7% w/w sugar cane fibre 0.0617 a ?0.0156 b 0.2371 a 2% w/w sunflower oil + 0.3912 a 0.1872 a 0.2832 a 0.7% w/w citrus fibre

Conclusions

[0057] The sensorial evaluation results for the combination of citrus fibre and sunflower oil validated the real time flavour release in-vivo measurements. A similar synergy between sugar cane fibre and sunflower oil was observed on the perception of flavor intensity.