Ice cream cone made from adlay

MANILA, Philippines — Ice cream is one of the most popular summertime cravings. It is always best served in a cone rather than in a cup.

Cones are designed to complement the sweet, creamy taste of ice cream.

 Nowadays, there are many types of cones to choose from -- cake cones, sugar cones, waffle cones, and pretzel cones. Most of them are now creating much more appeal in the market as they value the uses of each cone type with the different variations, uniqueness, and special features.

 But have you ever heard of sweet cone made from adlay?

  As one of the active implementers of research activities on adlay, the Department of Agriculture-Regional Field Office 4B (MIMAROPA) has been consistent in developing technologies and carrying out initiatives that will further improve and promote the adlay crop. One of its most notable feats is a product called Adlay Sweet Cone.

 Adlay, known as a healthy, versatile food ingredient, can be easily ground into flour and used to make bread, pasta, porridge, among others. It has a good quality, which shows adlay grains can also provide essential nutrients needed by the body.

 DA-MIMAROPA is on track in showcasing techniques on how to prepare various affordable, nutritious, and palatable adlay delicacies which include broas, cookies, kalamay, pandesal, turones de adlay, arrozcaldo, champorado, polvoron and noodles.  It also aims to produce unique products.

When it comes to taste, DA-MIMAROPA’s  Lorena Mendoza said the Adlay Sweet Cone is thicker, crispy, and has a little bit lumpy texture, giving an interesting twist to the customers’ delight.

Even if eaten alone, Adlay Sweet Cone is more delicious compared to other commercially available cones in the market. Its shelf life can reach up to four months with proper storage.

 Mendoza said the product has received many orders from Mama Sita’s and the DA-RFO 5 to complement the Bicol region’s bread fruit or Rimas ice cream.

 DA-MIMAROPA envisioned a partnership with the DA-Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division  to give them important information on market development services and  assist them in identifying potential market linkages, private adopters, and market matching activities.

  Commercial cones are mostly blended with lots of sugars, wheat flour, and tapioca flour (a starch from cassava plant). Other than having one percent of iron recommended daily, there is no nutritional benefit in having an ice cream cone.

 Based on its percent daily values and nutrition facts by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute, 100 grams of servings of any type of commercial cones have a total of 417 calories.

 A typical cone will net around 10 grams of sugar which is almost 50 percent of the recommended daily intake. Consuming high amounts of sugar can lead to weight gain, diabetes, and increased production of ghrelin – a hunger hormone that tells the body that we are still hungry so we should get a second serving.  

 Apart from sugar, tapioca has harmful effects as well – it naturally produces cyanide. While the manufacturing process most likely gets rid of the cyanide, there is still a risk, no matter how small, that eating tapioca or anything with tapioca in it may introduce cyanide into the body.

Unlike typical commercial cones, the Adlay Sweet Cone is made from brown sugar, water, wheat flour and adlay grain flour.

 Adlay grain is highly nutritious. According to a chemical analysis also provided by the FNRI, a 100-gram serving of adlay is superior in terms of its food energy content (365 kcal), rich in carbohydrate content (73.9 g), protein (12.8 g), and fat (1.0 g). It is also packed with other minerals including calcium (25 mg), phosphorus (43.5 mg), iron (5 mg), niacin (4.3 mg), (0.28 mg), and riboflavin (0.19 mg). 

Adlay also has a high fiber that shows promising results in anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and blood sugar-lowering properties for optimum health of the human body.