Qualities and sensory characteristics of coconut milk ice cream containing different low glycemic index (GI) sweetener blends

The development of a low glycemic index (GI) coconut milk ice cream by replacing 12% sucrose with different low GI sweeteners (xylitol, erythritol, inulin and fructose) was investigated. Three mixtures of sweeteners (6.2% xylitol + 7% inulin, 4% erythritol + 7% inulin + 2.15% fructose, 8.5% inulin + 5% fructose) were reformulated to obtain the similar characteristics as using 12% sucrose, including sweetness, freezing point depression (FPD) (-2.5 to -3.0) and total solid (40 ± 1%). All ice cream samples containing sweeteners had similar FPD and unfrozen water (UFW) as compared to the control (12% sucrose) (p > 0.05). Flow behavior of ice cream added with erythritol + inulin + fructose were pseudoplastic flow (n < 1) and had the highest consistency coefficient. However, the ice cream substituted sucrose with inulin + fructose possessed the lowest melting rate (p ≤ 0.05). Sensory evaluation results showed that firmness and meltdown intensities as well as acceptance scores of all attributes of ice cream with erythritol + inulin + fructose were not different from the control (p ≤ 0.05). In addition, GI value of ice cream containing erythritol + inulin + fructose was the lowest and approximately 64% lower than that of the control. Therefore, the mixture of erythritol, inulin and fructose might be successfully used to replace sucrose as sugar sources in low GI coconut milk ice cream production.