Effect of Hyaluronic Acid Molecular Weight on Physicochemical and Rheological Properties of Ice Cream.

This study evaluated the effect of hyaluronic acid (HA) with different molecular weights on the physicochemical and rheological properties of ice cream. Ice cream formulations were prepared using a consistent base mix, with treatments including a control sample containing 0.3% commercial stabilizer-emulsifier blend (IC-C) and 4 HA-treated samples with 0.3% HA at molecular weights of 320 kDa (IC-1), 980 kDa (IC-2), 1550 kDa (IC-3), and 2550 kDa (IC-4). Analyses were performed on both the ice cream mix and final ice cream to assess functional properties. Overrun, hardness, adhesiveness, and melting rate were evaluated in ice cream samples, while creaming stability (expressed as creaming index) and rheological properties (G', G″, and viscosity) were assessed in the mix. The experiment was replicated three times. Results showed that HA treatments had no significant effect (p > 0.05) on overrun. However, HA significantly influenced textural and rheological properties depending on molecular weight. IC-3 and IC-4 exhibited significantly higher (p < 0.05) hardness and lower (p < 0.05) melting rates compared to IC-1 and the control. Creaming stability improved with increasing HA molecular weight, as indicated by lower creaming index values over 21 days. Rheological analysis showed increases in storage modulus, loss modulus, and viscosity with increasing HA molecular weight. Overall, higher molecular weight HA (1550 and 2550 kDa) improved several measured ice cream properties under the conditions of this study and shows potential as a structuring ingredient. However, as the control formulation contained both stabilizers and emulsifiers, these results do not demonstrate full replacement of conventional stabilizer-emulsifier systems.