Two studies were conducted to examine the effects of lactose hydrolysis on freezing point and dipping characteristics of ice cream. The overall research objective was to determine changes in freezing point, texture and ease of dipping ice cream as a result of lactose hydrolysis. It was also the goal of this research to relate observations from the sensory dippability study with hardness and yield stress data to determine if the latter methods could be used as an alternative to human testing of dippability.

In the first experiment, ice cream mixes were treated with lactase (EC 3.2.1.23) to cause 0 to 83% lactose hydrolysis. Lactose hydrolysis decreased the freezing point from -1.63oC in the control (0% hydrolysis) to -1.74oC in the 83% hydrolyzed sample (p < 0.05). Firmness decreased from 0.35 J in the control sample to 0.08 J in the 83% hydrolyzed sample. Lactose hydrolyzed samples melted at a faster rate than the control. There was a difference (p < 0.05) in ease of dipping between samples treated with lactase and the control. There were no perceived differences in sweetness and coldness.

In the second study, ice cream mixes were treated with lactase (EC 3.2.1.23) from the microbial sources Kluyveromyces lactis and Aspergillus oryzae to cause 0 to 100% lactose hydrolysis. Compression measurements and yield stress as measured by the vane method were both affected by the temperature of the samples. R2 values for compression measurements as related to lactose hydrolysis were higher then those obtained for yield stress measurements. Human evaluation determined a difference (p < 0.05) between the control samples (0% hydrolyzed) and the treatment groups (80% and 100% hydrolyzed).

This research demonstrated a relationship between lactose hydrolysis and ease of dipping ice cream. The results implied that the effect of lactose hydrolysis on the dipping characteristics could be evaluated successfully by three different methods: the vane method, compression measurements, and human evaluation. Changes in freezing point due to lactose hydrolysis were minimal, implying that monitoring freezing point is not enough to determine textural characteristics.