Banana plant extract may help you relish melt-proof ice cream
New York: Love to savour your ice cream in its solid state for longer and hate to see it melt? Scientists have found a solution to this problem in a banana plant extract that they say could be key to a creamier and longer lasting ice cream.
The findings showed that adding tiny cellulose fibres extracted from banana plant waste to ice cream could slow melting, increase shelf life and potentially replace fats used to make the tasty treat.
"Our findings suggest that cellulose nanofibres extracted from banana waste could help improve ice cream in several ways," Robin Zuluaga Gallego, from the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Colombia.
"In particular, the fibres 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," Gallego added.
For the study, presented at the 255th National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans, the team extracted cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs), which are thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair, from ground-up banana stems or rachis.
Then they mixed the CNFs into ice cream at varying concentrations, ranging from zero up to three-tenths of a gram per 100 grams of the dessert.
They found that ice creams mixed with CNFs tended to melt much more slowly than traditional ice creams.
They also determined that CNFs could increase shelf life of ice cream, or at least decrease its sensitivity to temperature changes that occur when moved to and from the freezer.
In addition, CNFs increased the viscosity of low-fat ice cream, which improved the creaminess and texture of the product.
This suggests that CNFs could help stabilise the fat structure in ice creams. As a result, CNFs could potentially replace some of the fats -- and perhaps reduce calories -- in these desserts, the researchers noted.
Moving forward, the researchers plan to explore how different types of fat, such as coconut oil and milk fat, affect the behaviour of CNFs in other frozen treats.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
India, US trade team to start three-day talks from Dec 10: Sources
New Delhi (PTI): India and the United States will commence three-day talks on the first phase of their proposed bilateral trade agreement here from December 10, sources said.
The visit is crucial as India and the US are working to finalise the first tranche of the pact.
"The three-day talks will start on December 10. It will conclude on December 12, and it is not a formal round of talks," said one of the sources.
The US team will be led by Deputy United States Trade Representative (USTR) Rick Switzer.
This visit of the US officials marks their second trip since the imposition of a 25 per cent tariff and an additional 25 per cent penalty on Indian goods entering the American market due to the purchase of Russian crude oil.
On September 16, the US officials last visited India.
On September 22, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal also led an official delegation to the US for trade talks. Goyal had also visited Washington in May.
While the USA's chief negotiator for the pact is Assistant US Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch, the Indian side is led by Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce Darpan Jain.
The talks are also important as Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal has recently stated that India is hopeful of reaching a framework trade deal with the US this year itself, which should address the tariff issue to the benefit of Indian exporters.
While noting that the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) will take time, Agrawal has added that India is engaged in protracted negotiations with the US on a framework trade deal that will address the reciprocal tariff challenge faced by Indian exporters.
India and the US are having two parallel negotiations -- one on a framework trade deal to address tariffs and another on a comprehensive trade deal.
In February, leaders of the two countries directed officials to negotiate an agreement.
It was planned to conclude the first tranche of the pact by the fall of 2025. So far, six rounds of negotiations have been held. The agreement aims to more than double bilateral trade to USD 500 billion by 2030, from the current USD 191 billion.
The US remained India's largest trading partner for the fourth consecutive year in 2024-25, with bilateral trade valued at USD 131.84 billion (USD 86.5 billion exports).
The US accounts for about 18 per cent of India's total goods exports, 6.22 per cent of its imports, and 10.73 per cent of its total merchandise trade.
According to exporters, the agreement is important as India's merchandise exports to the US declined for the second consecutive month in October, falling by 8.58 per cent to USD 6.3 billion due to the hefty tariffs imposed by Washington.
