Development of vegan ice cream using Coven (Gypsophila Bicolor) root juice and different plant-based milks

Abstract

Introduction and Aim: Caryophyllaceae (Carnations) is one of the 5 families richest in terms of species in the Turkish flora, and coven, one of 559 species, 230 of which are endemic, grows in the Central and Eastern Anatolia regions of Turkey (16). Coven juice, traditionally extracted in boiling water, is used as an additive in the production of halva and Turkish delight, improving the color, volume and structure of the products (14).

Coven plant contains saponin glycoside with surface active properties. Coven juice is produced by traditionally extracting coven roots in boiling water by Turkish delight and halva producers. The plant-based milks used in the study are alternatives to animal milks because they do not contain whey and casein protein and do not cause allergies and intolerances. Foods such as coconut, almond, and hazelnut are preferred in obtaining plant-based milk due to the vitamins, essential fatty acids, proteins, polyphenols, and minerals they contain. Ice cream is a frequently consumed dairy product obtained by adding air bubbles to the mixture formed by adding milk, sugar, fat, stabilizer, emulsifier, and color and flavor substances and freezing it (7). For quality ice cream, the mixture must be balanced and processed effectively in terms of physical openers and contain the appropriate amount of stabilizer and emulsifier. Gelatin, carob bean gum, guar gum, carrageenan, agar, gum arabic, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, and methyl cellulose are the main stabilizers used in ice cream (10). The aim of this study is to compare the sensory properties of vegan ice creams obtained using traditionally boiled coven root juice and herbal milks, vegan ice cream obtained without coven, and vegan ice cream sold in the market.

Method: Almond milk ice cream, soymilk ice cream, hazelnut milk ice cream, oat milk ice cream, and coconut milk ice cream were prepared with coven foam, salep, and organic apple juice concentrate. In addition, hazelnut milk ice cream was prepared with salep and organic apple juice concentrate without adding coven foam. Samples were prepared in the Nutrition Principles Laboratory of the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, Marmara University. The recipes used for the preparation of the samples were developed by the researchers by reviewing the literature (3,6). Ice creams were prepared with five different herbal milks, almond, coconut, oat, soy, and hazelnut, with the juice of the coven root obtained. In addition, ice cream was prepared without using hazelnut milk, salep and coven root. This ice cream was prepared to see the effect of coven root juice on the volume increase of ice cream.

Sensory analysis of the samples was carried out at Marmara University Nutrition Principles Laboratory with 15 panelists between the ages of 20-55. In the sensory analysis, 7 samples were evaluated, including almond milk, soy milk, hazelnut milk, oat milk, ice cream obtained using coconut milk, ice cream obtained without hazelnut milk and coven, and purchased vegan ice cream. Sensory evaluation of 7 different ice creams was carried out together with the vegan ice cream purchased from the market. The obtained data were evaluated with SPSS 22 package program. Significant differences between the applications were statistically evaluated with one-way analysis of variance. Kruskal-Wallis test was used in the comparisons between groups of parameters that did not show normal distribution for more than two groups. All statistical calculations were evaluated at a 95% confidence interval and a significance level of p<0.05.

Results: The average age of the fifteen panelists was 30.67±6.32 years. 93% of the panelists did not have a chronic disease and 87% did not use any medication on a regular basis. None of the ice creams prepared with plant milk were found to be very bad by the panelists in terms of color and odor. No one found hazelnut milk ice cream very bad in terms of color, appearance, texture, consistency, odor and melting in the mouth. In terms of icy texture and melting in the mouth, 33% of the panelists were undecided. Hazelnut milk ice cream was found to be better in appearance than almond milk ice cream, hazelnut milk ice cream without coven and oat milk ice cream. When the sensory properties of hazelnut milk ice cream without coven were evaluated, 67% of the panelists found it good in terms of color. 53% found it bad in terms of texture and melting in the mouth. In addition, it was found to be better than other ice creams except ready-made vegan ice cream in terms of color. When the sensory properties of oat milk ice cream were evaluated, 67% of the panelists evaluated it good in terms of color. 67% evaluated it bad in terms of icy structure. In addition, the ice cream that was evaluated as very good most frequently after ready-made vegan ice cream in terms of melting in the mouth, gumminess, smell, taste, structure, appearance and color was coconut milk ice cream. This situation showed that only coconut milk ice cream, among the ice creams we developed, was similar to other vegan ice creams purchased from the market in terms of taste and appearance. The superiority of coconut milk ice cream in terms of taste and appearance can be explained by the fact that the fat content, which is a determining factor in the formation of structure, consistency, flavor and color, is higher than ice creams obtained with other plant milks (1,3). When looking at oat milk ice cream and hazelnut milk ice cream without added coven, the frequency of evaluation as very bad is higher than the others. It was thought that this situation could be explained by the fact that hazelnut milk ice cream without added coven does not contain coven foam and as a result, there is no increase in volume and its fat content is low (2).

Conclusion: As a result, among the herbal milk ice creams made using coven root, the one that is most similar to the vegan ice cream sold in the market in 9 different sensory aspects is the ice cream made with coconut milk. Two types of ice cream samples were prepared by adding coven foam to hazelnut milk and without coven foam. According to the results of this study, it can be recommended to use coven foam instead of non-fat dry matter as an additive for volume increase in ice creams. According to the results of the studies, more ice cream recipes obtained with herbal milks and coven foam should be developed. Newly developed recipes can be prepared by using a professional ice cream machine and adding different amounts of coven foam.