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，日本科學(xué)家發(fā)明了一種方法，令冰淇淋在幾小時內(nèi)依然保持原狀不會融化。在品嘗的時候，這種冰淇淋的口感不會有太大影響，除非你的注意力不在吃上面，而是卯足了勁兒要想方設(shè)法觀察它在這個時間段有何變化。

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.

據(jù)日本報(bào)刊《朝日新聞》報(bào)道，這一奇妙的靈感來源于日本金澤縣一生物治療發(fā)展研究中心的偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)。研究人員表示曾經(jīng)是想讓糕點(diǎn)廚師用草莓中提取的多酚液體制作甜點(diǎn)，以幫助那些2011年日本東部地震和海嘯后受災(zāi)的草莓農(nóng)民。這名沮喪的糕點(diǎn)師傅后來告訴科學(xué)家自己在做的過程中發(fā)現(xiàn)，加入草莓多酚會讓正在使用的乳制品瞬間凝固。雖然當(dāng)時師傅也秉持著對草莓多酚有所懷疑的原則，但研究中心的一名工作人員立馬意識到這種草莓多酚潛力無限，或許真的派上大用場。

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."

經(jīng)過反復(fù)試驗(yàn)，金澤大學(xué)藥劑學(xué)專業(yè)的名譽(yù)教授太田富久先生不久后便推出了這種不會融化的冰激凌。在接受《朝日新聞》采訪時，太田富久先生表示：“多元酚液體能夠讓油脂和水的分離變得困難。所以，如果把多元酚加入冰淇淋中，就能讓其能更好地維持奶油的形狀，不易融化?！睋?jù)報(bào)刊一位職員透露，這種冰淇淋已于四月份就在日本金澤、大阪以及東京等城市出售，火爆程度難以想象?！爱?dāng)把烘干機(jī)放在空調(diào)屋之后，從普通商店里買的香草冰淇淋在烘干機(jī)的熱風(fēng)下立馬從邊緣開始融化，”一位記者說道，“但是金澤出產(chǎn)的這款冰淇淋五分鐘之后還是冰冰的，而且形狀也沒有什么變化。”

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.

另一家當(dāng)?shù)匦侣劸W(wǎng)站“日本天空新聞”在7月初買了一根小熊形狀的“金澤款”不會融化的冰糕，并記錄其在室溫下三個小時內(nèi)的形狀變化。在這則延時視頻中，我們可以看到，盡管可以很輕易地將雪糕棍從小熊肚子的方位移走，但是雪糕本身仍然保持冰涼的溫度，并且形狀并沒有發(fā)生太大改變，只是在向紙盒下沉的過程中邊緣部分稍稍有些變形。