Abstract
The objective of this study is to determine the effects of high pressure and the addition of glucose, trehalose, or sucrose on the improvement in texture of frozen egg custard gel. Egg custard gel with 5% sugar (glucose, trehalose, or sucrose) was frozen at 0.1-686 MPa and -20°C. The gels with 0% and 5% sugar did not freeze at -20°C during pressurization at 200-400 MPa and 200-500 MPa, respectively. When the pressure was released, the supercooled gel froze quickly by pressure-shift-freezing, and small, granular-shaped ice crystals formed. Thus, a change in texture (rupture stress and strain) of the pressure-shift-frozen gel was slightly prevented. The addition of 5% sugar to the gel was effective in improving the structural and textural quality of the frozen egg custard gel. However, there was no great difference in ice crystal size among the three kinds of sugar.
