New Delhi: Conservators have managed to discover a 107-year-old fruitcake which has been perfectly preserved in Antractica for over a century.
The surprising part is that even after so much time, the fruitcake looks good enough to consume and has stood up perfectly for over 100 years.
According to Sciencealert, the cake was found at the abandoned explorer hut at Cape Adare, left behind by the northern group of the Terra Nova expedition, who arrived at the spot in February 1911.
It was found by a team from the Antarctic Heritage Trust (AHT) in New Zealand.
The Trust has been collecting artefacts from Cape Adare for over a year now, amassing almost 1,500 items for long-term preservation.
"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," says AHT program manager Lizzie Meek.
"It's an ideal high-energy food for Antarctic conditions, and is still a favourite item on modern trips to the Ice."
The well-preserved cake was discovered in a tin box and was baked by the Huntley & Palmers biscuit company.
The AHT team has removed the rust around the box and deacidified it, as well as repairing the paper wrapper around the cake and adding chemicals to stabilise its preservation for future years.
Nobody has tried a bite till now. Would you like to be the first one?
