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.
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RCB beat MI by 18 runs after batters fire
Mumbai (PTI): Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Rajat Patidar, Phil Salt and Virat Kohli blasted half-centuries as the defending champions beat Mumbai Indians by 18 runs in an Indian Premier League match here on Sunday.
Salt (78 off 36 balls) and Kohli (50 off 38 balls) stitched together a 120-run stand for the opening wicket before Patidar scored a rapid 53 off just 20 balls as RCB posted 240 for 4.
In response, Mumbai Indians were restricted to 222 for 5, with RCB spinner Suyash Sharma (2/47) putting the skids on the home side with a double strike in the eighth over, from which they could not recover.
Sherfane Rutherford top-scored for MI with an unbeaten 71 off 31 balls.
While opener Rohit Sharma appeared to be struggling with a hamstring issue and had to retire hurt on 19, his partner Ryan Rickelton made 37, while Suryakumar Yadav (33) and Hardik Pandya (40) were the other contributors for MI.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 240 for 4 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 78, Virat Kohli 50, Rajat Patidar 53, Tim David 35 not out).
Mumbai Indians: 222 for 5 in 20 overs (Sherfane Rutherford 71 not out, Ryan Rickelton 37, Hardik Pandya 40; Suyash Sharma 2/47).
