Effects of Palm Sugar Substitution on the Proximate Composition and Thermal Properties of Ice Cream

Abstract

Ice cream is a frozen dessert made primarily from milk, skimmed milk, and whipping cream, and is sweetened with either sugar or artificial sweeteners. As consumers increasingly lean towards healthier food choices, developing ice cream varieties that reduce sugar intake has become a key focus in the food industry. This shift is largely motivated by the awareness that consuming calorie-dense foods can lead to serious health problems like obesity and diabetes, especially in children and young adults. However, substituting ingredients in ice cream formulation can significantly impact its properties. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the proximate composition and thermal properties of ice cream formulated using palm sugar as a sweetener. Five ice cream formulations were tested, each containing different ratios of sucrose to palm sugar: F1 (100:0), F2 (80:20), F3 (50:50), F4 (20:80), and F5 (0:100). The proximate composition was analysed using AOAC methods. To assess thermal behaviour, a Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) was employed to measure the enthalpy values. Incorporating palm sugar as a sweetener led to notable changes, with an increasing trend in moisture, protein, and fat content as the amount of palm sugar increased (p < 0.05), with the highest in F5 (67.35 ± 0.09% moisture, 2.39 ± 0.17% protein, and 4.23 ± 0.77% fat). The thermal analysis of ice cream showed that ice cream with a higher amount of palm sugar produced a lower enthalpy value. The overrun of the ice cream was lower when using palm sugar; the lowest was 23% (F5) and it produced a higher melting rate due to the structure of the palm sugar. These results suggest that palm sugar has the potential to be successfully used in ice cream production.