Japan has discovered a way to make ice-cream that doesn't melt

Life-changing.
 By 
Yvette Tan
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo

These popsicles are ready to take on the summer heat.

Japan's Biotherapy Development Research Centre has created what could possibly change life as we know it -- ice-cream that doesn't melt.

And it wasn't even on purpose.

The research centre in Kanazawa city had asked a pastry chef to make a dessert using polyphenol, a liquid extracted from strawberries.

But the pastry chef was alarmed, complaining that the dairy cream he was using "solidified instantly" when the strawberry polyphenol was added to it.

It was then that the research centre realised they had struck gold.

"Polyphenol liquid has properties to make it difficult for water and oil to separate, so 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," Tomihisa Ota, a professor emeritus of pharmacy at Kanazawa University, who developed the popsicles, told the Asahi Shimbun.

A reporter who held out a popsicle in 28°C weather (82°F), found that the icy treat "retained its original shape" even after five minutes in the sun -- and still tasted cool, even.

According to a report by SoraNews, the ice cream still pretty much kept their shape even after being left out for three hours.

The research centre began manufacturing the popsicles to shops around the country who have begun selling the "non-melt" lollies.

And it looks like they've been pretty well received.

The popsicles appear to be selling for 500 yen each, or $4.5 dollars -- a small price to pay for a big luxury.

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Yvette Tan

Yvette is a Viral Content Reporter at Mashable Asia. She was previously reporting for BBC's Singapore bureau and Channel NewsAsia.

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