Designing future foods: Harnessing 3D food printing technology to encapsulate bioactive compounds

Towards the development of foods 3D printer: Trends and technologies for foods printing

3D printing of food materials is among the innovations that could revolutionize people's food choices and consumption. Food innovation and production have advanced considerably in recent years and its market has shown rapid annual expansion. Printing food technologies are considered as a potential solution for producing customized foods such as military food, and astronaut food. The printable food ink material still lacks standardization and superior extrusion process compared to other 3D printing industries. This review paper aimed to provide a comprehensive review of the current foods 3D printing and the latest technology in certain terms and with its concrete applications. In particular, the following issues are discussed: the printing techniques, exudations classes, business prospects, technologies, printing parameters, food materials, safety, and challenges and limitations of food 3D printing along with possible improvement recommendations. Significant printing parameters have been summarized and the safety of the food printing has been evaluated. Moreover, this article also contains a detailed, tabular evaluation of technical approaches employed across researched based and commercially available systems. One of the major limitations that need to be resolved was standardization of food printing safety.

Lutein encapsulation into dual-layered starch/zein gels using 3D food printing: Improved storage stability and in vitro bioaccessibility

The ability of 3D printing to encapsulate, protect, and enhance lutein bioaccessibility was investigated under various printing conditions. A spiral-cube-shaped geometry was used to investigate the effects of printing parameters, namely zein concentration (Z; 20, 40, and 60 %) and printing speed (PS; 4, 8, 14, and 20 mm/s). Coaxial extrusion 3D printing was used with lutein-loaded zein as the internal flow material, and corn starch paste as the external flow material. The viscosities of the inks, microstructural properties, storage stability, and bioaccessibility of encapsulated lutein were determined. The sample printed with a zein concentration of 40 % at a printing speed of 14 mm/s (Z-40/PS-14) exhibited the best shape integrity. When lutein was entrapped in starch/zein gels (Z-40/PS-14), only 39 % of lutein degraded after 21 days at 25 °C, whereas 78 % degraded at the same time when crude lutein was studied. Similar improvements were also observed after storing at 50 °C for 21 days. Furthermore, after simulated digestion, the bioaccessibility of encapsulated lutein (9.8 %) was substantially higher than that of crude lutein (1.5 %). As a result, the developed delivery system using 3D printing could be an effective strategy for enhancing the chemical stability and bioaccessibility of bioactive compounds (BCs).

Upcycling imperfect broccoli and carrots into healthy snacks using an innovative 3D food printing approach

Vegetables are healthy foods with nutritional benefits; however, nearly one-third of the world's vegetables are lost each year, and some of the losses happen due to the imperfect shape of the vegetables. In this study, imperfect vegetables (i.e., broccoli and carrots) were upcycled into freeze-dried powders to improve their shelf-life before they were formed into food inks for 3D printing. The rheology of the food inks, color analysis of the uncooked and cooked designs, and texture analysis of the cooked designs were determined. The inks with 50% and 75% vegetables provided the best printability and shape fidelity. 3D printing at these conditions retained a volume comparable to the digital file (14.4 and 14.3 cm3 vs. 14.6 cm3, respectively). The control, a wheat flour-based formulation, showed the lowest level of stability after 3D printing. The viscosity results showed that all the food inks displayed shear-thinning behavior, with broccoli having the greatest effect on viscosity. There was a significant color difference between uncooked and cooked samples, as well as between different formulations. The hardness of the baked 3D-printed samples was affected by the type and content of vegetable powders, where carrot-based snacks were notably harder than snacks containing broccoli. Overall, the results show that 3D food printing can be potentially used to reduce the loss and waste of imperfect vegetables.

From bytes to bites: Advancing the food industry with three-dimensional food printing

The rapid advancement of three-dimensional (3D) printing (i.e., a type of additive manufacturing) technology has brought about significant advances in various industries, including the food industry. Among its many potential benefits, 3D food printing offers a promising solution to deliver products meeting the unique nutritional needs of diverse populations while also promoting sustainability within the food system. However, this is an emerging field, and there are several aspects to consider when planning for use of 3D food printing for large-scale food production. This comprehensive review explores the importance of food safety when using 3D printing to produce food products, including pathogens of concern, machine hygiene, and cleanability, as well as the role of macronutrients and storage conditions in microbial risks. Furthermore, postprocessing factors such as packaging, transportation, and dispensing of 3D-printed foods are discussed. Finally, this review delves into barriers of implementation of 3D food printers and presents both the limitations and opportunities of 3D food printing technology.