Fortifications in Ice-cream with Enhanced Functional Properties: A Review

Enrichment of food by the addition of essential micro-nutrients like trace elements and vitamins to food isknown as fortification. It can be carried out under initiatives such as Public Health Policy which aims inreducing the number of people with dietary deficiencies within a group of people or population. Ice-creams arewell known dessert, and very much in demand among the children. So it is very important to keep its sensoryfactors in mind and make nutritive additions in it. To meet the demands of the consumers various naturalingredients are used to fortify ice-creams. Works have been done on combining ice-cream with biologicallyactive molecules and produce functionally potential products. There are reports of making naturalanti-oxidant ice-cream, experimenting it with cocoa powder, hazelnut, green-tea and ginger extract. Ice-creamfortification with fish-protein powder has turned to be effective in enhancing food value, but studies on itsstability during storage and consumer acceptance are highly recommended. Researchers worked onincorporating dietary fibers in ice-cream like wheat, oats, bamboo, apple and orange. Its influence waschecked on the basis of rheological, textural, sensory properties and probiotic culture survival of theice-cream, to enhance the structural characteristics and cultural viability. Addition of Inulin in ice-creams asfat-replacers increased the viscosity and also made it resistant to melting. Hydrocolloids bind water and oiland adding them in ice-creams enhanced the micro-viscosity. Ice-creams were fortified with vitamins andminerals with successful attempts for example Vitamin D3, calcium and zinc fortifications. This study aims toreview the various fortifications of ice-cream till date, using different nutritional components, hence fulfillingthe nutritional needs of human-beings.