Abstract:
This study focuses on the production of bael
fruit-formulated ice cream to utilize the benefits of bael
fruit which is rich in medicinal and nutritional
properties. Ice cream was developed under four
treatments; T1 (control), T2, T3, and T4 with varying
percentages of bael fruit pulp 0%, 25%, 50%, and
75%). A comprehensive analysis was conducted which
included proximate analysis (protein, fat, ash, and
moisture), sensory evaluation, and physicochemical
property analysis (pH, hardness, cohesiveness,
springiness and melting rate) of ice cream.
Physicochemical properties were analyzed over 42
days to detectthe storage duration. The results revealed
that the T2 had the best sensory appeal which was even
higher than the control. Protein, fat, and moisture
contents were higher in T1 than the other treatments
while ash content increased with the rate of bael fruit
incorporation. The protein, fat, ash, and moisture
contents (%) of T2 were recorded as 1.99±0.02,
1.69±0.01, 1.19±0.03, and 80.27±0.30 respectively.
The pH, hardness, cohesiveness, springiness, and
melting rate values of freshly produced ice cream with
T2 were 5.53±0.03, 7.86±10.21, 0.25±0.01, 0.63±0.06,
and 1.03±0.03 (mL/min) respectively. This study
reveals that ice cream products with acceptable sensory
and physicochemical attributes can be produced by
incorporating the pulp of bael fruit, which is currently
underutilized in the Sri Lankan context
