Japanese scientists have discovered a way to make ice cream retain its shape and not melt for several hours. Your taste buds won’t notice, unless you have the patience and willpower to observe rather than eat your frozen treats this summer.
近日，日本科学家发明了一种方法，令冰淇淋在几小时内依然保持原状不会融化。在品尝的时候，这种冰淇淋的口感不会有太大影响，除非你的注意力不在吃上面，而是卯足了劲儿要想方设法观察它在这个时间段有何变化。
According to the Asahi Shimbun, a Japanese daily newspaper, scientists at Biotherapy Development Research Center Co. in Kanazawa stumbled upon the miracle-working method by accident earlier this year. Researchers had reportedly asked a pastry chef to create a dessert using polyphenol liquid, extracted from strawberries, in an effort to help out strawberry farmers whose crops were suffering after the earthquake and tsunami in eastern Japan in 2011. The frustrated chef told scientists that "dairy cream solidified instantly when strawberry polyphenol was added," and although he believed there was "something suspicious" about the polyphenol, one researcher at the center immediately realized the natural compound’s potential for greatness.
据日本报刊《朝日新闻》报道，这一奇妙的灵感来源于日本金泽县一生物治疗发展研究中心的偶然发现。研究人员表示曾经是想让糕点厨师用草莓中提取的多酚液体制作甜点，以帮助那些2011年日本东部地震和海啸后受灾的草莓农民。这名沮丧的糕点师傅后来告诉科学家自己在做的过程中发现，加入草莓多酚会让正在使用的乳制品瞬间凝固。虽然当时师傅也秉持着对草莓多酚有所怀疑的原则，但研究中心的一名工作人员立马意识到这种草莓多酚潜力无限，或许真的派上大用场。
Through trial and error, Tomihisa Ota, professor emeritus of pharmacy at Kanazawa University, soon developed non-melting popsicles. "Polyphenol liquid has properties to make it difficult for water and oil to separate so that a popsicle containing it will be able to retain the original shape of the cream for a longer time than usual and be hard to melt," he told the Asahi Shimbun. The popsicles went on sale in Kanazawa, Osaka, and Tokyo in April and, according to one of the newspaper’s staffers, they definitely live up to the hype. "When heat from a dryer was applied in an air-conditioned room, a vanilla popsicle that was purchased from a regular shop began melting around the edges almost instantly ," according to a reporter. "But the Kanazawa Ice retained its original shape even after five minutes. It also tasted cool."
经过反复试验，金泽大学药剂学专业的名誉教授太田富久先生不久后便推出了这种不会融化的冰激凌。在接受《朝日新闻》采访时，太田富久先生表示：“多元酚液体能够让油脂和水的分离变得困难。所以，如果把多元酚加入冰淇淋中，就能让其能更好地维持奶油的形状，不易融化。”据报刊一位职员透露，这种冰淇淋已于四月份就在日本金泽、大阪以及东京等城市出售，火爆程度难以想象。“当把烘干机放在空调屋之后，从普通商店里买的香草冰淇淋在烘干机的热风下立马从边缘开始融化，”一位记者说道，“但是金泽出产的这款冰淇淋五分钟之后还是冰冰的，而且形状也没有什么变化。”
Another local news site, SoraNews, purchased a bear-shaped popsicle from Kanazawa Ice in early July and documented the changes it underwent over the course of three hours at room temperature. By the end of the time-lapse video, although the Popsicle stick could be removed from the bear’s stomach with little resistance, the ice cream creature still reportedly tasted cool and had largely retained its shape, spreading only a tiny bit as it sunk into its paper bed.
另一家当地新闻网站“日本天空新闻”在7月初买了一根小熊形状的“金泽款”不会融化的冰糕，并记录其在室温下三个小时内的形状变化。在这则延时视频中，我们可以看到，尽管可以很轻易地将雪糕棍从小熊肚子的方位移走，但是雪糕本身仍然保持冰凉的温度，并且形状并没有发生太大改变，只是在向纸盒下沉的过程中边缘部分稍稍有些变形。