Okra Extracts Help Preserve Ice Cream for Longer Duration: Study

Okra extracts help store ice cream for longer duration, according to a study.

Experts at the Institute of Food Technologists discovered that natural compounds found in okra fibre can be used preserve the icy delight and also maintain its consistency.  When ice creams melt and is frozen again, it loses the creamy and bouncy texture and forms a solid block. The Okra fibre acts as a stabilizer by keeping its fluffy consistency and preventing it from melting to make to it last longer, reports the Free Press Journal.

The experts believe this finding is a major blessing for the food industry as it helps maintain and handle perishable items during packaging and transporting.

Generally, ice cubes stored along with ingredients in the process of making the ice cream helps keep its quality and texture intact. But in the current study, researchers examined effects of Okra cell wall (OKW) mixed along with water-soluble polysaccharide (OKP) in different concentration levels and temperature ranging between -10 to -20 degrees Celsius.

It was observed increasing the concentration of okra extract not only improved melting resistance of ice cream, it also conserved quality, taste and viscosity of the dessert.

"We have shown that OKW and OKP could be used as ice cream stabilizer to retard ice recrystallization and melt down of the ice cream. These naturally extracted stabilizers offer an alternative ingredient for the ice cream industry as well as for other food products," write the authors in the study.

More information is available online in the journal of Food Science.