106-year-old preserved fruitcake still looks fresh and edible

pulse-ghana admin

August 15, 2017 1:17 PM

The New Zealands Heritage trust said the fruitcake was made by Britains Huntley and Palmers dating back to early 19th century.

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It is completely unimaginable what sort of preservation process could enable a fruit cake last for over 100 years and still look and smell edible.

It was discovered at the New Zealand-based Antarctic Heritage Trust that a cake fruit packaged in a rusted iron alloy tin which conservators believe could be at least 106 years old was still looking palatable.

Lizzie Meek who works at the Heritage trust said in a release that, "With just two weeks to go on the conservation of the Cape Adare artefacts, finding such a perfectly preserved fruitcake in amongst the last handful of unidentified and severely corroded tins was quite a surprise," the release stated.

But what was the motivation behind the preservation of the fruitcake for so long? The trust said the fruitcake was made by Britain's Huntley and Palmers dating back to early 19th century.

"It's an ideal high-energy food for Antarctic conditions, and is still a favorite item on modern trips to the Ice," Meek said.

As a matter of fact, a lot of effort must have gone into the preservation process. Meek said "Conservation treatment involved rust removal, chemical stabilisation and coating of the tin remnants,"

Furthermore, some "deacidification of the tin label and some physical repair to the torn paper wrapper and tin label was also carried out,” Meek emphasised.

The trust has conserved almost 1,500 artifacts from Cape Adare since May 2016, and are beginning plans to conserve buildings in the area.

pulse-ghana admin