| The task of this study was to develop a multifunctional ice cream which can deliver multiple functional ingredients to consumers. Probiotic ( Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001), prebiotic (inulin), dietary fiber (digestive resistant maltodextrin), and antioxidant (açai) were chosen as the functional ingredients. Based on the result of our study, L. rhamnosus HN001 survived the ice cream making process and low storage temperature up to 6 months well (108 cfu/ mL). Also, inulin (at 4% level) was shown to improve the smoothness and creaminess of ice cream samples. On the other hand, consumers preferred ice cream with 12% açai flavor over 10% and 8% açai containing ice cream. Hence, 12% of açai content was used subsequently to formulate multifunctional ice creams.;A descriptive sensory analysis was carried out to investigate the effect of adding varying levels of dietary fiber (0%, 5%, 10% and 15%) to a multifunctional ice cream that contained fixed levels of antioxidants (12% of açai), prebiotics (4%) and probiotics (108 cfu/ mL) on sensory properties. The results showed that an increase in dietary fiber contents significantly increased the perception of gooeyness, gumminess, creaminess mouth coating, sweetness, sweetness aftertaste, and wood flavor aftertaste, but decreased the perception of hardness and iciness among the different ice cream samples. Based on a texture analysis, dietary fiber increased the overrun and viscosity, but decreased the melting rate of ice creams. The viscosity of ice cream samples was highly correlated to the textural sensory attributes. The antioxidant capacities of açai puree and multifunctional ice creams were 15.75 and 1.17 mM TEAC/ g sample, respectively. Also, the flavor profile of açai puree and multifunctional ice creams was determined. Twenty-one volatile compounds were identified and most of the identified volatile compounds were aldehydes, alcohols and alkenes. The flavor profile can be useful for formulating any açai-based food product.;Consumers’ degree of liking for multifunctional ice creams was measured by a hedonic sensory study. The results indicated that consumers preferred 0% and 5% dietary fiber containing multifunctional ice creams. Also, labeling the ingredients as having potential health benefits negatively influenced consumers’ degree of liking.;In conclusion, even though ice cream containing 5% dietary fiber showed some differences to the control ice cream in the descriptive and instrumental analyses, there was no significant difference in consumers’ preference. Therefore, an ice cream containing 5% of dietary fiber, 4% of prebiotic, 10 8 cfu/ mL of probiotic and 12% of açai can be considered an ideal formulation for a multifunctional ice cream. |
