Improving the quality and the taste of green tea ice cream by identifying suitable cultivar, agronomic practices and processing techniques of Assamica tea grown in Sri Lanka

The objectives of this study were to find the most suitable tea cultivar, shading effect and best tea processing technique for production of green tea powder with low astringency and amount of green tea addition to produce ice cream with best flavor and medicinal values. Green tea powder was manufactured using five different cultivars i.e. TRI 2023, TRI 2026, TRI 2027, TRI 4042 and TRI 4047 grown under shaded and un-shaded conditions with three processing techniques namely; steaming, pan firing and freeze drying and  green tea ice cream was prepared using processed green tea powder. To reveal the health benefits of green tea powder and green tea ice cream, total phenolic content (TPC) , total flavonoid content (TFC) and Total antioxidant capacity (TAC)  were checked by using modified folin-ciocalteu method , colorimetric method and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay respectively. The best quality green tea in terms of colour and flavour can be produced from tea leaves of TRI 4047 cultivar which was cultivated under shaded conditions with freeze drying processing technique. In terms of colour and flavour, 15 g of green tea added for ice cream mixture (500 mL of milk, 125 mL of whipping cream and 150 g of sugar) is the most suitable amount to add for green tea ice cream preparation. Significantly, higher TAC, TPC and TFC in green tea ice cream when compared to normal ice cream (without green tea powder) indicating the importance of consuming value added green tea ice cream as a healthy food.