Ice cream is a delicious cold treat that lots of people enjoy during the summer months, but its downside is that you can’t relish the nice chilly temperature for too long, as the Sun’s piping hot beaming rays will quickly melt your ice cream, forcing you to munch it down pretty quickly.
Fortunately for ice cream lovers, a new kind of ice cream is in testing that could potentially increase the treat’s lifespan outside in the Summer heat. Using a new protein dubbed BsIA, researchers at the universities of Dundee and Edinburgh have found a way to prolong the period of time that ice cream can last outside, letting ice cream-lovers enjoy their ice cream even longer.
As noted by the study, the new protein is more structurally sound than the existing proteins in ice cream. It binds together air, water, and fat better than the existing proteins in ice cream, and it’s a naturally occurring protein. Changing the type of protein isn’t a big deal, as most of the ingredients in ice cream remain the same; it’s just a matter of swapping the one protein for its benefits.
In addition to lasting longer in the heat, the new protein will also make it possible to prevent the grittiness of ice crystals from forming on the surface of ice cream while in the freezer, which means that the new protein will give ice cream a longer shelf life and keep it tasting as good as they day you bought it, longer.
But that’s not all, the new protein is also opening doors for making ice cream healthier; now, it could be possible to reduce the amounts of saturated fats and calories, which means more people that typically try to stay away from ice cream could find a way to add it into their diets.
These discoveries have excited the researchers behind the product, who are seeing the benefits that the new protein could provide for ice cream sellers, as well as consumers.
"We're excited by the potential this new ingredient has for improving ice cream, both for consumers and for manufacturers," said Cait MacPhee from the University of Edinburgh School of Physics and Astronomy.
Because of the success of the protein thus far in testing, it could be used in publicly available ice cream as soon as three to five years from now. As it would appear, there are nothing but benefits to be had from the new protein and there doesn’t appear to be any noticeable drawback impacting flavor or health from making the switch.
Source: The University of Edenburgh
