Ice-Cream That Doesn’t Melt

A tasty new discovery has brought about ice-cream that does not melt. Researchers have discovered a new protein that slows down entire speed at which ice-cream melts. They say the product could be saving cones from the heat in as little as three to five years.

 

The protein that has been added into the ice cream is known as BsIA, the protein can keep ice-cream cold for vast periods of time however the exact period of time will also be dependent on a few other deciding factors. These factors would be how hot the surrounding air is and also the various ingredients added in the ice-cream. 

 

The protein works by binding the fat, water and air molecules together in the actual ice-cream which assists in holding the ice-cream stable for longer periods of time. Apart from defending off the heat, the protein also helps with keeping the ice-cream smooth as it prevents the formation of ice crystals. The researchers have also replaced some of the fat with their newly discovered protein, so it also lowered the fat and calorie content of the ice creams it was mixed into while retaining many of the properties of fat.

 

“We’re excited by the potential this new ingredient has for improving ice cream, both for consumers and for manufacturers,” Professor Cait MacPhee, an experimental bimolecular physicist, told media. 

 

The shift could be particularly beneficial to manufacturers, since it would allow ice cream to remain frozen for longer, reducing the need to deep freeze the sweet treat.

 

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, along with the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, is also behind the concept of a new, improved and non-melting ice cream.

 

Dr Nicola Stanley-Wall, a molecular microbiologist, said: "It has been fun working on the applied use of a protein that was initially identified due to its practical purpose in bacteria."