Determining the Internal Structure of Ice Cream Using Cryogenic Microtome Imaging and X-ray Computed Tomography

Abstract

The size, morphology, and distribution of the internal structure of ice cream, such as ice crystal, bubble, and solid content, were determined in samples prepared at four different overrun levels using a cr yogenic microtome spectral imaging system (CMtSIS) and X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT) at the synchrotron facility SPring-8. Ice cream samples were prepared at four overrun levels and the mean values of the percent overrun by weight (OR) were 11.5%, 22.7%, 44.3%, and 73.8% for very low, low, medium, and high overrun levels, respectively. Percent overrun by volume (ORVc for CMtSIS and ORVx for X-ray CT) was also evaluated for the samples. The means of ORVc values obtained using CMtSIS were 10.5%, 42.8%, and 77.7% for very low, medium, and high overrun levels, respectively, whereas the means of the measured OR were 11.5%, 44.3%, and 73.8%, respectively. An ORVc-3D of 14.8% was obtained by incorporating the volume of bubbles in the 3-D image using CMtSIS for the ice cream sample with 12.7% OR. For high OR (73.8%) ice cream, the ORVx values ranged from 68.8% to 75.5% with a mean of 71.3%; whereas the value of the corresponding ORVc by CMtSIS was 77.7%. For low OR (22.7%) ice cream, the ORVx values ranged from 17.8% to 25.3% with a mean of 21.7%.

Shrinkage in frozen desserts

“…A number of studies have used electron microscopy to study the air phase in frozen desserts, but recent advancements in imaging may allow for a more complete study of air phase evolution during storage. The air phase can be visualized within the frozen dessert nondestructively using x-ray microtomography (Pinzer et al, 2012), synchrotron x-ray tomography (Guo et al, 2017(Guo et al, , 2018Mo et al, 2018Mo et al, , 2019, cryogenic microtome spectral imaging system (Do et al, 2018(Do et al, , 2020, and focused beam reflectance measurement (Hernández Parra et al, 2018a). The 2D crosssectional images are computed to 3D renderings that can distinguish high-contrast phase boundaries, which is particularly useful to visualizing ice and air phases within the frozen product.…”