Researchers at the Biotherapy Development Research Center Co. in Kanazawa, Japan, have come with a 100%-natural solution to the age-old problem of melting ice-cream. By using polyphenol found in strawberry, they can keep a popsicle from melting for hours, on a hot summer day.

 

日本金泽生物疗法开发研究中心近日发明了一种100%纯天然的方法，解决了冰淇淋易化的老难题。他们利用草莓中的“多元酚”让冰淇淋在炎炎夏日中放上几个小时也不会融化。

 

Believe it or not, the secret ingredient for "unmeltable" ice-cream was discovered by mistake. The Kanazawa research center had asked a local pastry¹ chef to create new confectionery using strawberry polyphenol, in an attempt to find new uses for strawberries not good enough to be sold as fresh fruit.

 

However, the chef later reported that that "dairy cream solidified² instantly when strawberry polyphenol was added". That made it redundant³ in confectionery, but researchers at the center realized that polyphenol could be used to make ice-cream melt a lot slower.

 

So how much slower does a strawberry polyphenol ice-cream melt? Well, according to Takeshi Toyoda, president of the Biotherapy Development Research Center, it would retain its shape even when "exposed to the hot air from a dryer⁴". But Japanese reporters didn't take his words for it, instead testing the unmelting ice-cream themselves. Last month, reporters from Asahi Shimbun wrote that the popsicle "retained its original shape" after 5 minutes being exposed to heat (around 28 degrees Celsius).

 

The guys at Sora News also put the new ice-cream to the test, leaving it out for a whole three hours. Even though it pretty much became a creamy goo at the end of the test, it took a while for it to reach that state, and even then, it still mostly retained its shape.

 

The Biotherapy Development Research Center Co. started selling the wonder ice-cream at its Kanazawa Ice shop, in Kanazawa, before expanding to Tokyo and Osaka. It's still only available in Japan, but I bet we'll be seeing it adopted in other parts of the world very soon.

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