Free Fatty Acid Content of Ice Cream with Certain Observations on Flavor Relationship

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Abstract
Lipasc action in relationship to ice cream quality has not been given specific attention. Such consideration seems justified for three reasons. First, rancid and closely related flavors are found in ice cream. This indicates that under certain conditions of processing and manufacturing, or through improper con- trol of the raw dairy products used, a sufficient quantity of free fatty acids is developed to produce the "off" flavor. This matter becomes increasingly im- portant as greater use is made of low-heat condensed or concentrated milk products as a source of the milk solids. In certain of these products sufficient active lipase may remain to create a flavor problem unless proper precautions are used in processing. Second, free fatty acids when added to the mix have been found to be related to shrinkage in ice cream (2). However, no studies have been made of the relationship of shrinkage to the free fatty acid content of ice cream resulting from normal lipase action. Third, a certain concentra- tion of free fatty acids has been found to be beneficial in improving the flavor of milk chocolate (5). The possibility exists that controlled lipolysis may be utilized by the ice cream maker in the production of a chocolate ice cream with higher consumer acceptance. Because of the lack of information in this connection, a study was conducted for the purpose of determining the normal free fatty acid content of commercial ice cream and establishing the fatty acid-rancid flavor threshold level in vanilla and chocolate ice creams. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE The free fatty acid content of ice cream was determined by a modification of the solvent extraction procedure of Johnson and Gould (6), as follows: (a) Thirty g. of melted ice cream mix were weighed into a 250-ml. centrifuge bottle; the mix was diluted with 10 ml. of distilled water and the ptI adjusted to 2.0 with 1 N H~S04 ; (b) the acidified mix was shaken vigorously with 40 ml. of 95 per cent ethanol for 30 seconds and allowed to stand for 5 minutes ; (c) sixty ml.
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