Functionality of Okra Gum as a Novel Carbohydrate-based Fat Replacer in Ice Cream

This work investigated the effects of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) gum addition, as a fat replacer in ice cream. Water-extracted okra gum was used to replace the fat in ice cream at 0, 22, 44, 55, 88 and 100% to produce Super Premium (18% fat), Premium (14% fat), Regular (10% fat), Economy (8% fat), Low-fat (2% fat) and Zero-fat (0% fat) ice cream. The addition of okra gum was found to be comparable with full fat ice cream in term of melting rate and texture analysis. Droplet size data for the Super Premium ice cream displayed a bimodal distribution, whilst Zero-fat ice cream exhibited a monomodal droplet distribution. Rheological test, demonstrated that, Economy ice cream was the most elastic (G′). The substitution of fat content in ice cream with okra gum increased the viscous modulus (G″). Sensory results indicated that, up to 55% replacement of fat with okra gum was feasible to achieve satisfactory ice cream properties.