New Mexico State University develops slow‑melting ice cream

Professor Sergio Martinez‑Monteagudo at New Mexico State University (Las Cruces) led a team of six graduate students to create an ice‑cream formulation that resists melting for several hours. Funded by Blue Bunny Ice Cream, the researchers altered milk‑protein structures so they bind water more tightly, allowing the product to stay solid up to three hours after freezing.

The team tested dozens of commercial ice‑cream varieties, mapped their melting curves, and on a laboratory scale produced a prototype that could help curb food waste and improve sustainability in the dairy sector.