Jiahan Zou
This soft ice, made from gelatin, keeps the food fresh – without the inconvenience of having the water melting.
If he ever went through a fresh fish counter and noticed in the cloudy water dripping to the showcase, he has seen the problem that inspired the “gelatin ice.”
Normal ice melts. Leave puddles that can spread bacteria and create a food safety nightmare. But what if the ice didn’t melt? And if simply … tree?
That was the question that a team of researchers from the University of California, Davis, decided to explore. The result is the “gelatin ice”: A malleable material similar to dessert gelatin, but It works as ice cubes.
It is reusable. It is composed. And, contrary to what happens to ice in your refrigerator, does not become liquid When it thaws.
The idea was born in the corridors of a supermarket. Luxin WangProfessor of Food Science at UC Davis, noticed in the Ice to melt in fish showcases And it was concerned about the possibility that the contaminated water spreads microorganisms.
He then asked his colleagues if it would be possible to invent a substitute for these ice cubes.
A Inspiration came from the tofu. “The frozen tofu keeps the water inside, but qUndo Degree Liberta-It. Therefore, we tried to solve this problem with another material: gelatin, ”explains Gang Sun, professor of biological and agricultural engineering, to.
Unlike tofu, Gelatin forms hydrogels – Structures full of microscopic pores that retain water even during freezing and defrosting.
After years of experiments, the postdoctoral researcher Jiahan Zou perfected the process until it reaches what it calls “a practical and unique method of gelatin ice manufacture, with 90% waterwhich can be repeatedly washed with water or diluted, frozen and thawed”.
At room temperature, gelatin ice Shoot like a dessert. But when cooled below zero, hardens and approaches consistency of a solid ice block.
Because soft ice is important
Common ice is excellent to absorb heat (and thus cool food), but melts in puddles that need to be drained or eliminated. The gelatin ice does not.
“Compared to normal ice the same way and size, gelatin ice candye up to 80% of cooling efficiency “The amount of heat that gel can absorb during phase change,” Zou explained.
“And we can reuse the material and maintain the absorption capacity Heat in several freezing and thawing cycles, which is an advantage over normal ice, ”he adds.
Current cold storage alternatives, such as gel bags or dry ice, usually involve synthetic plastics or chemicals. They are bulky, little practical and not always biodegradable.
Gelatin ice, on the contrary, can be molded into cubesplates or even decorative flowers. And when it is no longer necessary, it can be placed in the composer. In laboratory experiments, decayed gelatin ice enriched soils even enhanced the growth of tomato plants.
The new hydrogel now developed at UC Davis, which was presented last week at a conference of the American Chemical Society, paves the way to create methods of transport fresh foods and vaccines without generating waste.
A gelatin ice plate of about half a kilo could replace plastic -covered cold accumulators, while personalized shapes could serve to serve to conserve delicate products or medical samples. Since it does not pour liquids, it can also make fresh fish monsters safer.
The technology is not yet marketed. Zou admits that “there are still some Market Analysis Stepsproduct design and large -scale production tests ”before gelatin ice hit stores. But the University of California in Davis Already licensed the technology to companies interested in launching the new product in the market.
