Applications of Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose In Ice Cream
Ice cream is one of the rapidly developed foods in recent years. With the rapid development of national economy and the continuous improvement of people’s living standards, the demand for a variety of fancy ice cream is also increasing. Although the addition amount of thickening stabilizer in ice cream is only about 0.5%, it plays a very crucial role in the quality and taste of ice cream.
Applications of Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose In Ice Cream
1. Applications of Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose in Ice Cream
Compared with other materials (such as starch and guar gum), Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose can both be rapidly dissolved in cold and hot water. Its aqueous solution has very high transparency and fluidity, and can generate a stable reticular structure at different temperatures. In the storage process, it is insensitive to to temperature changes, so that the product structure is stable. Therefore, Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose can enhance the melting resistance of ice cream.
Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose has higher aqueous solution viscosity than xanthan gum, gelatin and sodium alginate, and also has excellent compatibility. Used in compound with these colloids, the viscosity has doubling effects. Therefore, the addition of Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose into ice cream can make the consistency of mixed material and liquid increased in the premise of homogenizing and aging. It can be known from “Stoke” law that “the floating rate of fat is proportional to the square of the diameter of the fat”, and the increase in the viscosity of material and liquid can avoid the re-gathering of fat in the mixture during cooling and aging steps. Meanwhile, Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, with strong dispersion, can make the mixed materials more uniform, and more suitable for industrial production.
Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose is a strongly hydrophilic colloid, can be quickly combined with the free water in the material and liquid, is uniformly distributed in the mixture, and when stirring enables air to form extremely fine bubbles, so that the ice cream has delicate tissue and good taste, while improving the expansion rate of product. Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose can play a certain role in emulsification. In ice cream, it can not only capture the calcium in the mixture, but also can dissociate the casein molecular clusters and increase the emulsifying capacity of protein and fat, while reducing cohesion of fat as well as playing a certain role in the homogenizing of the mixed solution of ice cream.
2. Requirements of Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose for Ice Cream
When CMC acts as a stabilizer of ice cream, there are some special requirements. In order to improve the uniformity of the mixture, Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose should be rich in pseudoplastic property to increase the shape retention of ice cream; furthermore, the viscosity of Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose should be high, and the viscosity should be 15-20 Pa·s measured with a Brookfield rotary viscometer or a viscometer of NDJ-1 type in the mass fraction of 2% for Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose; there is more fruit-based ice cream now and the pH value of its mixture is acidic, so Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose is required to have high degree of substitution, good reaction uniformity and resistance to certain acids; the high-temperature short-time sterilization is used in the industrial production of ice cream, so it requires Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose to have good thermal stability. Therefore, Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose for ice cream has very high quality requirements, with the degree of substitution 0.80 to 0.85, the acid-viscosity ratio greater than 0.80, and the transparency of its solution should be good.
3. The Amount of Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose in Ice Cream
Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose can be used alone, with an amount of 0.4%-0.5%. When used in ice cream, it should first be dry mixed with white granulated sugar, then dissolved and filtered. For example, the mixed use with 0.1%-0.15% emulsifier can better embody the advantages of Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose. The compound emulsion stabilizer is now frequently used for industrial production of ice cream and the main advantage is easy to use. A variety of emulsion stabilizers can be compounded according to the different requirements of ice cream.
1). 32% gelatin (through 80 mesh), 35% Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, 33% glyceryl monostearate; an amount of 0.45%-0.50% in ice cream.
2). 20% sodium alginate, 60% Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, 15% glyceryl monostearate; 5% sucrose ester; an amount of 0.45%-0.50% in ice cream.
3). 30% guar gum, 40% Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, 10% xanthan gum, 10% glycerol monostearate, 10% sucrose esters; an amount of 0.4%-0.55% in ice cream. For various kinds of fruit ice lollies, the addition amount of Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose can be 0.50%. Using the compound emulsion stabilizer can reduce the agglomeration of raw materials in the process of dissolution, shorten the aging time of product, adjust the expansion rate of product, and make it more suitable for industrial production.