Optimization of Formulation Ingredients and Aging Time for Ice Cream Processing Using Combined Design Approach

In this study, effects of different stabilizers on sensory properties of ice cream were investigated by combined design which is a versatile experimental design technique because of combination of mixture design and process factor. For this aim, different product formulations were composed depending on the combined design points and sensory analyses were conducted. In the study, combined design was composed by two mixture designs and one numeric process factor. Totally, 270 different ice cream samples which have different formulations were prepared and evaluated by a 10 trained panelists in terms of taste-odor, color-appearance, texture-consistence and overall acceptance using a hedonic scale evaluation form. The panel scores were subjected to optimization using Nelder-Mead Simplex Algorithm. The best five different product formulations having different desirability values were composed. The results of this study showed that the ingredient proportion and aging time could be optimized using combined design effectively. Use of salep and guar gum among the stabilizers provided an increment on the desirability of the ice cream samples and aging time as a process factor showed a significant effect on the ice cream acceptability. Practical ApplicationsCombined design is a quite effective mathematical approach for the optimization of the processing variables containing mixture components and process factors. So, it could be used efficiently to model the ingredients of ice cream processing. The results of this study showed that the ingredient proportion and aging time could be optimized using combined design effectively.