Washington, June 15: An alumnus of Madras University and Mysore University has discovered an edible antifreeze that can keep ice cream tasty and smooth, besides preventing other frozen foods from being ruined.

Ice cream kept in the freezer for a long time may form these tiny, sharp, unpleasant ice crystals.

Other foods stored in the freezer can develop these same crystals — including microwave dinners, fish sticks, and bread. Food makers have tried to prevent ice crystals from forming. However, nothing seems to work.

Now chemists in Wisconsin have discovered an ingredient that works like an antifreeze for ice crystals in ice cream and other foods.

Srinivasan Damodaran led the team of chemists who discovered that a natural protein material called gelatin hydrolysate does the trick.

It works like the antifreeze used in cars. Car antifreeze, however, is poisonous and can never be eaten.

Ice cream made with the food antifreeze had fewer and smaller ice crystals than the batches without it.

The study appeared in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a journal for scientists. (ANI)