Produced from vegetable-based fatty acids, DFC Chemical® /Commonly used ice cream emulsifiers, recent years, are widely used in both hard and soft ice cream.

Commonly used ice cream emulsifiers

Ice cream is a complex colloidal system. In its production process, whether it is mixture preparation, pasteurization, cooling, homogenization, and aging, every step determines its quality. Mix appropriate emulsifiers or stabilizers in a certain proportion to maximize their performance. This is very suitable for use in full-fat, low-fat and skimmed ice cream.

The main functions of ice cream emulsifiers are: improve the dispersibility of fat in the mixture, prevent fat from floating, promote the interaction of fat and protein, control the agglomeration and cohesion of fat, promote air mixing, and give proper extrusion dryness and more delicate viscosity, improve product stability, prevent product shrinkage and improve meltability.

Commonly used ice cream emulsifiers are: lecithin, sucrose fatty acid esters, mono(di)glycerol fatty acid esters, sorbitan fatty acid esters, triglycerol fatty acid esters, propylene glycol fatty acid esters, etc.

1. Molecularly distilled monoglyceride (DMG)

Molecularly distilled monoglyceride is the most commonly used food emulsifier. It can be used alone as one of kinds of commonly used ice cream emulsifiers, or it can be used in combination with other emulsifiers (such as sucrose esters, lecithin, and propylene glycol esters). Monoglycerides can not only improve foaming and emulsification properties, but also saturated fatty acid monoglycerides have a better ability to promote fat crystallization, and unsaturated fatty acid monoglycerides have a better ability to replace protein. Its principle of action is to replace part of the casein on the surface of fat globules. As commonly used one of the ice cream emulsifiers, it mainly has following function:

On the one hand, it improves the dispersibility of fat in the mixture, so that the fat particles are finely and evenly distributed, and the stability of the emulsion is improved; on the other hand, it promotes fat and the interaction of proteins can destabilize or break the emulsion and help control the agglomeration and aggregation of fat. Moreover, by controlling the formation of coarse ice crystals, the ice cream has a fine structure and good dryness, and the stability and shape retention of the ice cream are also improved. At the same time, under the function of ice cream emulsifiers, the ice cream can be prevented from shrinking and deforming during storage, and the meltability can also be improved. When using the ice cream emulsifiers during the production of ice cream, pay attention to the fusion temperature, the addition amount is 0.10-0.35%. Compared with other ice cream emulsifiers, it is still widely used now.

2. Triglycerin fatty acid ester (PGE)-more and more popular ice cream emulsifiers

Triglycerin fatty acid ester (PGE) can be used alone or in combination with other emulsifiers in ice cream. Air is fully added to the oil and the bubbles are uniform and delicate. Triglycerin fatty acid ester (PGE) is a new ice cream emulsifier that has been gradually recognized in recent years. The added amount of this emulsifier is 0.1-0.3% less than that of commonly used ice cream emulsifiers. With the help of this kind of ice cream emulsifier, the product has high expansion rate, fine taste, lubrication, and good shape retention. It can improve aeration, improve tissue uniformity, improve heat resistance, and maintain "Dry feeling", after repeated freezing and thawing, the ice cream can still maintain emulsification stability, and can keep fresh for a long time, which can extend the shelf life. Compared with other ice cream emulsifiers, monoglycerides, lecithin, and sucrose esters are not available at this side.