Squeezing out ketchup just got easier

Squeezing out ketchup just got easier

 Here’s some good news for women who often find it a herculean task to get the sauce out of ketchup bottles — researchers claim to have created a super-slippery material based on a carnivorous plant.
    And, the material has properties that allow it to repel both oil and water based liquids, meaning they slide off without leaving any residue, according to a team at Harvard University in US. The researchers behind the substance were inspired by Nepenthes pitcher plants, which has a highly slippery surface at the top of its fluteshaped leaves so that insects tumble down into the digestive juices contained inside.
    They found that the plant’s leaves have a sponge-like texture that are infused with water, which prevent the oils produced on insects’ feet from sticking. The researchers copied the plant by immobilizing a “lubricating film” inside the pores of a sponge-like layer of Teflon to produce a smooth and highly slippery surface. They hope it could not result in self-cleaning coating that can be put on anything from car windscreens, inside oil pipes and on aircraft wings to prevent icing.
    It could also be used to coat the inside of bottles and jars to allow every last drop of a condiment to be removed by hungry consumers.

All-in-one wonder

All-in-one wonder

    An extract from the pomegranate fruit makes for the biggest medical breakthrough since 1829, when Aspirin was discovered in willow trees, say scientists. Research scholars are describing it as the ‘Swiss Army Knife’ of natural pharmaceuticals because it can do so many things – from improving heart health, lowering blood pressure, treating inflammation, reducing the risk of cancers to tackling sexual dysfunction. For the first time, scientists have been able to unlock the precious new extract from the seeds, skin and pith of pomegranates. They found that it contains concentrated punicalagins, a plant nutrient that is virtually unique to it.
    Punicalagins are mostly found in the pomegranate’s inedible husk, rind, seeds and inner yellow membranes, which until now we tended to throw away. There are some in the juicy arils too (capsules), but the concentrations are low and the processing methods frequently remove the benefits. “We have been throwing away the seeds, skin and the pith of pomegranates for thousands of years because they are inedible and we haven’t had the science to enable us to release the benefits,” said Dr Sergio Streitenberger, head of research about the breakthrough.