Japanese Scientists Discover Extract That Stops Ice Cream From Melting

The future is probably full of amazing inventions, but it will be hard to top ice cream that doesn’t melt. Japanese scientists have isolated a compound that can be added to ice cream to make it last longer.

According to a report on Phys.org, the compound is found in strawberries and it keeps the ice cream from melting because it makes it difficult for oil and water to separate. The new addition helps ice cream keep its shape even as it’s warming up, so you have more time to eat — and fewer streaks of chocolate liquid running down the outside of the cone and onto your hands.

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A video from earlier this summer shows one of the frozen treats staying in one piece, without changing very much, as a whole five minutes elapse with the bear-shaped ice cream just sitting on a table.

The Phys.org report says the scientists, from Biotherapy Development Research Centre in Kanazawa, were investigating a particular strawberry extract after a pastry chef had complained that it was making his cream solidify. The chef was attempting to find another use for oddly shaped strawberries — they had grown in those weird shapes after Japan was hit with an earthquake and tsunami in 2011 and people were not buying them.

“Because the extract is completely natural, it did not require testing by health inspectors,” the report says. “Instead, it was made available to local shop owners who gladly began selling the ice cream in prepressed shapes on sticks or forms to customers who were more than happy to try it.”

It appears that the ice cream, which is still only available in Japan, can hold its shape for some hours and still will feel cool when finally consumed.

According to the Daily Mail, the extract keeps the ice cream whole even outside in 82 degrees Fahrenheit, or when a hair dryer is blowing onto it.

The compound that’s doing this ice cream a solid is polyphenol. It has been in the news for more reasons than ice cream, as a possible anti-cancer agent. Polyphenols are a diverse group of compounds, found in all sorts of fruits, vegetables and grains, but some of them might have health benefits. Plants use them to protect themselves from harmful sun radiation or from foreign pathogens but in their antioxidant capacity could also be helpful to humans.

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Antioxidants, as their name implies, reduce oxidation — cells in our bodies become damaged in a way similar to how iron turns into rust, and antioxidants reduce that effect.

“In food, polyphenols may contribute to the bitterness, astringency, color, flavor, odor and oxidative stability,” one study notes. “Epidemiological studies and associated meta-analyses strongly suggest that long term consumption of diets rich in plant polyphenols offer protection against development of cancers, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, osteoporosis and neurodegenerative diseases.”

It’s possible that polyphenols help both ice cream and our own lives last longer.