Development of a State‐of‐Art Custard Formulation: Investigating the Rheological, Physicochemical, Sensory, and In‐Vitro Digestibility Properties

Stabilizing starch‐based dairy desserts is a challenge, attracting researchers’ attention to finding a phase separation‐free formulation with protected textural and sensory properties. The present study aims to investigate the effect of using high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treated waxy corn starch (HWCS) instead of native corn starch, substituting sucrose with xylitol (1:0, 1:1, 0:1) and fat reduction level (2.67% and 0.1%) on the rheological, textural, sensory properties, α‐amylase sensitivity, and instrumental and sensory parameters of custard desserts’ correlation. The results of the back extrusion test demonstrate an increase in consistency (27.20 mJ) and adhesiveness (6.20 mJ) and a decrease in hardness (5.13 N) and adhesive force (2.57 N) by applying HWCS, diminishing fat content and substituting xylitol (HXL) compared to control (2.16 mJ, 0.79 mJ, 13.55 N and 3.45 N, respectively) that is in line with preventing syneresis, maximizing creamy stability index, and water holding capacity after 5 days of storage at 4 °C. Also, the presence of xylitol and HWCS decreases custards’ enzyme sensitivity and glucose release, amplifying its creaminess and smoothness perception. It is worth noting that although HWCS reduces viscosity and time dependency at the constant shear rate of 50 s−1 (6 °C), low‐fat samples have a higher viscosity than control.