Photo by Ross Sokolovski on Unsplash
NEW ORLEANS — Science may have finally led us to one of the greatest innovations of humankind: ice cream that doesn’t melt quickly on a hot day. The secret, according to scientists? Banana plant waste.
Not only do researchers say their concoction will last longer, but it’s creamier and potentially even healthier than your typical frozen treat.
Keeping ice cream from melting has been a mystery that has eluded research teams from around the world for years. In 2017, Japanese scientists developed a melt-resistant ice cream using polyphenol compounds from strawberries, but never before has a compound been found to improve the creaminess and texture of low-fat ice cream as well.
So, Columbian researchers Dr. Robin Zuluaga Gallego and Jorge A. Velásquez Cock teamed with scientists from the University of Guelph in Canada to see what would happen when they added tiny cellulose fibers from the banana plants into an ice cream recipe. When bananas are harvested, the remaining plant matter is disposed of as waste.
The research team used the microscopic fibers — thousands of times smaller than the width of human hair — from the banana plant stems, or rachis, to slow the melting in ice cream, as well as replace some of the fats used to make the frozen delicacy.
The study found that when mixed with the banana fibers, ice cream melted far slower than the dessert normally does. Even better, the shelf life of the product was longer and the ice cream’s creaminess and texture wasn’t worsened. Velásquez Cock believes their discovery may even lead to a lower-fat ice cream product as the fibers could potentially replace fats used in conventional products.
Healthier product aside, it’s good enough to give ice cream lovers a product that won’t leave their hands sticky and pants stained.
“Our findings suggest that cellulose nanofibers extracted from banana waste could help improve ice cream in several ways,” explains Gallego in an American Chemical Society media release. “In particular, the fibers could lead to the development of a thicker and more palatable dessert, which would take longer to melt. As a result, this would allow for a more relaxing and enjoyable experience with the food, especially in warm weather.”
This breakthrough could mean big-time changes to a huge industry. The United States alone produced 1.3 billion gallons of ice cream in 2016, according the US Department of Agriculture. On average, each American consumes approximately 23 pounds of ice cream each year.
The research was presented at the 255th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society in 2018.
Note: This article was first published March 26, 2018.
Brilliant….an expensive technology laden product which could only be possibly targeted at locales lacking air-conditioning, in other words where they will not pay more for the technology and probably have better local treats made with fresh ice. Clever to claim it’s a benefit to remove fat from ice-cream…..eat flavored ice if that’s the goal…….Ben Renner’s drug dealer probably tells him how awesome it is that he’s cutting his cocaine with banana cellulose, so it’s healthier. Tootin Ben…..not gonna fly.
I never liked banana ice cream
Nothing but Breyers Vanilla for me
It probably tastes like crap too. Stop messing with something that ain’t broke.
‘nanofibers’Correction: nanafibers ;0)Good, now sprinkle it on the north and south poles to shut these environmental whackos up…..
Good one.
When was the last time you heard an “anti racist” say that a particular country or population was “Too Black”? That it needed to bring in more non Blacks to promote “Diversity”?
Have you ever heard an “anti racist” say that?
Diversity means chasing down every White population until they become acceptably non White.
Its Geno Cide
Its Anti White
I’m all for sprinkling this stuff all over Leftists…
What the heck does your comment have to do with the subject of this article or this comment thread.
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!
I’m in my 70’s and never consider there is a problem with pure cream, sugar and cold. I like it just the way it was originally intended. I say hands off MY ice cream.
notice, he attempts to displace MANKIND, with huMANkind. Man is still the predominant word for these snowflake bolsheviks
One more molecule and it’d be plastic. No thank you
but but but I desire to grow another arm and hand to scratch my back
Well then your dumb ass should stop drinking water, just one more molecule and it’s hydrogen peroxide
You mean one more atom.
It was never a problem in the first place. A solution in search of a purpose
Taxpayer funded, I’m sure.
It’s only trying to lower cost of production. Less dairy and more waste product added equals more profit
And who cares if it’s bad for people to eat it. Food science, death. Feed your body clean fuel period. I know this personally. I was the typical Western diet. Then cancer said wake up you jerk. Now eating very clean zero processed food science crap. My body is healing itself. Yeah, it can do that!
Riiiiight… cos even ICE CREAM has to be about the Global Warming Hoax!
If your world, ice cream NEVER melted and dripped all over your kids shirt because this planet is COLD like FOREVER and any chocolate stains on the shirt were just FAKE NEWS.
So yea. Beyond the context of global warming… Melting ice cream has been a problem since the dawn of…. ice cream.
Condom that keeps you hard.
Ice cream that doesn’t melt would be a great follow up for last nights dinner’s extremely spicy dishes for your morning bowel movement.
I’ve already seen stuff called frozen dairy dessert that basically doesn’t melt, so I always opt for stuff that says ice cream and has an ingredient list that only reads something like: cream, sugar, chocolate.
Freakin leave it alone!!!! ICE CREAM.. Water+32F=ICE you IDIOTS!!! It will melt. Quit jerkin around with our food A$$HOLES
agree.the more they mess around the more bad things happen when consumed by humans.
Ice-Nine
Next: Scientists develop waterproof paper towels…
Solar powered flash lights
just what we need, more poisons in our food
Could we put some in the artic ice caps?
WALMART already has this tech there ice cream sandwich’s don’t melt.
Turds don’t melt either.