Retarding ice recrystallization by tamarind seed polysaccharide: Investigation in ice cream mixes and insights from molecular dynamics simulation

Food hydrocolloids, such as naturally sourced polysaccharide stabilizers, are becoming potential candidates for retarding ice recrystallization in frozen desserts. Tamarind seed polysaccharide (TSP) and its depolymerized fraction (DTSP) possessed ice recrystallization retardation (IRR) activity by a splat cooling assay. This study is a follow-up work aiming to investigate their application effects to retard ice recrystallization in ice cream mixes (ICMs) and delve into the ice-binding behavior at the ice/water interface. Native TSP worked for or against IRR in the ICMs depending on the concentration, while DTSP possessed an increased IRR effect under the addition of higher concentration (3.0%). Compared to TSP, adding DTSP caused less of an increase in the viscosity of the ICMs. Molecular dynamics was used to simulate ice growth in the presence of TSP (oligomer) and showed that the TSP possessed activity for retarding ice growth along the prismatic planes. During the propagation of ice crystals, the TSP was bound onto the ice and caused evident structural defects of ice layers. The findings of this study proved that TSP and DTSP have a promising application to retard ice recrystallization in ice cream and shed new light on understanding the mechanism of natural polysaccharides to retard ice growth.