Aspetti nutrizionali e sensoriali del gelato funzionale

The increased awareness of food-health relationship has led consumers to ask for functional food products. This has motivated the scientific community to carry out studies on functional foods in order to support these benefits. Since ice cream is among the most popular and appreciated desserts by people of all ages, it shows excellent potential to act as a vehicle for nutrients beneficial to human health. The reformulation of ice cream should guarantee acceptable sensory and technological properties, such as an adequate texture, a balanced flavour profile and product stability during frozen storage. All these characteristics must be optimised to make the production of functional ice cream feasible. This work reviews the studies involving a reformulation of ice cream, critically examining the nutritional benefits and the effect on physical and sensory properties.