Powdered milk proteins (e.g., whey protein concentrate, WPC, and milk protein concentrate, MPC) are commonly used to increase the dietary protein in many novelty foods. An attractive novelty food with increased dietary protein is high-protein ice-cream, where the amount of protein is increased up to 8-fold compared with regular ice-cream. Such increment in the protein content significantly alters the flow characteristics of the ice-cream mix, which in turn, impacts a number of quality parameters of the resulting ice-cream. This presentation reports some of the technological challenges associated with the manufacture of high-protein icecream. Firstly, the influence of the protein source (MPC and WPC), and protein content (4-12 %) on the rheological behaviour (flow curve, frequency sweep, and creep-recovery) of icecream mixes is discussed. Secondly, the melting behaviour of the resulting ice-creams is presented. The melting behaviour was evaluated through oscillatory thermorheometry within the temperature range of -20 to 10ºC. The outcomes of this investigation provide opportunities for designing freezing strategies for high-protein frozen desserts.
