Madison Reporter

On a hot summer day, nothing hits the spot quite like ice cream, especially in the Dairy State. However, while a frozen treat can help you cool off, it also puts you in a race against the clock to finish your scoop before it becomes a puddle or worse, a sticky mess.

Cameron Wicks, a PhD student in the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Department of Food Science, is working on new technology that adds naturally occurring compounds to ice cream to prevent such inconveniences.

“When you have normal ice cream, it will become a puddle of liquid in no time,” says Wicks. “However, we learned that adding polyphenols to ice cream can create a product that holds its shape for over four hours at room temperature. That’s pretty close to a no-melt ice cream.”

Polyphenols are compounds found naturally in foods like green tea, blueberries and cranberries and are known for their health benefits. By incorporating polyphenols into a standard ice cream recipe, Wicks studied how they interact with the ice cream’s milk fat and protein structures.

Wicks discovered that as more polyphenols were added to ice cream, its viscosity increased. Polyphenols do not prevent the ice from melting at room temperature; instead, they help create a network between the cream’s fats and proteins that resists the flow of melting ice.

Wicks tested the melting rates of variously treated ice creams by positioning samples on wire mesh above beakers placed on scales to record dripping weights. This data allowed her to measure melting rates and assess how quickly each sample melted. Photos taken over several hours provided additional insights.

These measurements and visuals helped Wicks understand what polyphenols do to ice cream. Prior research had shown that polyphenols could decrease melting rates but lacked detailed explanations on how this occurred. At UW–Madison, expertise from Professor Brad Bolling's lab on polyphenol chemistry was combined with insights from Professor Richard Hartel's lab on ice cream science.

“Ice cream already brings delight and happiness to many people around the world. So, being able to make a new novelty with this new technology was an amazing opportunity,” Wicks says.

Polyphenols appear similar in effect to stabilizers currently used in ice cream which minimize crystal growth during storage and enhance resilience through distribution processes where melting and refreezing can occur.

Current stabilizers include guar gum, locust bean gum and carrageenan. Wicks sees potential for replacing these with more recognizable natural ingredients like green tea or blueberry extracts containing polyphenols. Additionally, polyphenols could aid food distribution in areas lacking reliable refrigeration.

While consumers expect some degree of meltability in their ice creams today, incorporating polyphenols may affect taste—a factor Wicks aims to investigate further regarding acceptable levels for enrichment—highlighting another aspect of her ongoing research journey.

“Ice cream is such a complex system,” she notes. “Being able to understand all of the science behind it allows us to make food items better and more sustainable while creating better systems that feed the world.”

---