The development of 3D food printer for printing fibrous meat materials

3D printing: trends and approaches toward achieving long-term sustainability in the food industry

Global food security has recently been under serious threat from the rapid rise in the world's population, the problems brought on by climate change, and the appearance of new pandemics. As a result, the need for novel and innovative solutions to solve the existing problems and improve food sustainability has become crucial. 3D printing is expected to play a significant role in providing tangible contributions to the food industry in achieving sustainable development goals. The 3D food printing holds the potential to produce highly customized food in terms of shape, texture, flavor, structure and nutritional value and enable us to create new unique formulations and edible alternatives. The problem of whether the cost of the printed meal and 3D printing itself can be sustainably produced is becoming more and more important due to global concerns. This review intends to provide a comprehensive overview of 3D printed foods with an overview of the current printing methodologies, illustrating the technology's influencing factors, and its applications in personalized nutrition, packaging, value addition, and valorization aspects to fully integrate sustainability concerns thus exploring the potential of 3D food printing.

3D printed meat and the fundamental aspects affecting printability

Three-dimensional (3D) printing, one of the forms of additive manufacturing, has become a popular trend worldwide with a wide range of applications including food. The technology is adaptable and meets foods nutritional and sensory needs allowing meat processing to reach a sustainable level, technology addressing the food requirement of the ever-increasing population and the fast-paced lifestyle by reducing food preparation time. By minimizing food waste and the strain on animal resources, technology can help to create a more sustainable economy and environment. This review article discusses the 3D printing process and various 3D printing techniques used for food printing, such as laser powder bed fusion, inkjet food printing, and binder jetting, a suitable 3D technique used for meat printing, such as extrusion-based bioprinting. Moreover, we discuss properties that affect the printability of meat and its products with their applications in the meat industry, 3D printing market potential challenges, and future trends.

3D Printing Technology for Smart Clothing: A Topic Review

Clothing is considered to be an important element of human social activities. With the increasing maturity of 3D printing technology, functional 3D printing technology can realize the perfect combination of clothing and electronic devices while helping smart clothing to achieve specific functions. Furthermore, the application of functional 3D printing technology in clothing not only provides people with the most comfortable and convenient wearing experience, but also completely subverts consumers' perception of traditional clothing. This paper introduced the progress of the application of 3D printing from the aspect of traditional clothing and smart clothing through two mature 3D printing technologies normally used in the field of clothing, and summarized the challenges and prospects of 3D printing technology in the field of smart clothing. Finally, according to the analysis of the gap between 3D-printed clothing and traditionally made clothing due to the material limitations, this paper predicted that the rise in intelligent materials will provide a new prospect for the development of 3D-printed clothing. This paper will provide some references for the application research of 3D printing in the field of smart clothing.

Acceptability Analysis of 3D-Printed Food in the Area of the Czech Republic Based on Survey

The aim of the research was to observe consumer perceptions of 3D food printing and to highlight possible applications of this production. The questionnaire survey took place in the Czech Republic and was attended by 1156 respondents. The questionnaire was divided into six sections: (1) Socio-Demographic Data; (2) 3D Common Printing Awareness; (3) 3D Food Printing Awareness; (4) 3D Food Printing, Worries and Understanding; (5) Application; (6) Investments. Although awareness of 3D food printing is increasing, a very small fraction of respondents had encountered printed food in person (1.5%; n = 17). Respondents expressed concerns about the health benefits and the reduced prices of novel foods, and they perceived printed foods as ultra-processed foods (56.0%; n = 647). Concerns have also been raised about job losses due to the introduction of new technology. On the contrary, they perceived that quality raw materials would be used to prepare printed foods (52.4%; n = 606). Most respondents believed that printed foods would be visually appealing and would find application in several food industry sectors. Most respondents believed that 3D food printing is the future of the food sector (83.8%; n = 969). The gained results can be helpful for 3D food printer producers, as well as for future experiments dealing with 3D food printing issues.

Direct Ink Writing: A 3D Printing Technology for Diverse Materials

Additive manufacturing (AM) has gained significant attention due to its ability to drive technological development as a sustainable, flexible, and customizable manufacturing scheme. Among the various AM techniques, direct ink writing (DIW) has emerged as the most versatile 3D printing technique for the broadest range of materials. DIW allows printing of practically any material, as long as the precursor ink can be engineered to demonstrate appropriate rheological behavior. This technique acts as a unique pathway to introduce design freedom, multifunctionality, and stability simultaneously into its printed structures. Here, a comprehensive review of DIW of complex 3D structures from various materials, including polymers, ceramics, glass, cement, graphene, metals, and their combinations through multimaterial printing is presented. The review begins with an overview of the fundamentals of ink rheology, followed by an in-depth discussion of the various methods to tailor the ink for DIW of different classes of materials. Then, the diverse applications of DIW ranging from electronics to food to biomedical industries are discussed. Finally, the current challenges and limitations of this technique are highlighted, followed by its prospects as a guideline toward possible futuristic innovations.

Towards the Development of 3D-Printed Food: A Rheological and Mechanical Approach

Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, has raised interest in many areas, such as the food industry. In food, 3D printing can be used to personalize nutrition and customize the sensorial characteristics of the final product. The rheological properties of the material are the main parameters that impact the 3D-printing process and are crucial to assuring the printability of formulations, although a clear relationship between these properties and printability has not been studied in depth. In addition, an understanding of the mechanical properties of 3D-printed food is crucial for consumer satisfaction, as they are related to the texture of food products. In 3D-printing technologies, each manufacturing parameter has an impact on the resulting mechanical properties; therefore, a thorough characterization of these parameters is necessary prior to the consumption of any 3D-printed food. This review focuses on the rheological and mechanical properties of printed food materials by exploring cutting-edge research working towards developing printed food for personalized nutrition.

Trends in functional food development with three-dimensional (3D) food printing technology: prospects for value-added traditionally processed food products

One of the recent, innovative, and digital food revolutions gradually gaining acceptance is three-dimensional food printing (3DFP), an additive technique used to develop products, with the possibility of obtaining foods with complex geometries. Recent interest in this technology has opened the possibilities of complementing existing processes with 3DFP for better value addition. Fermentation and malting are age-long traditional food processes known to improve food value, functionality, and beneficial health constituents. Several studies have demonstrated the applicability of 3D printing to manufacture varieties of food constructs, especially cereal-based, from root and tubers, fruit and vegetables as well as milk and milk products, with potential for much more value-added products. This review discusses the extrusion-based 3D printing of foods and the major factors affecting the process development of successful edible 3D structures. Though some novel food products have emanated from 3DFP, considering the beneficial effects of traditional food processes, particularly fermentation and malting in food, concerted efforts should also be directed toward developing 3D products using substrates from these conventional techniques. Such experimental findings will significantly promote the availability of minimally processed, affordable, and convenient meals customized in complex geometric structures with enhanced functional and nutritional values.

The Effects of Processing and Preservation Technologies on Meat Quality: Sensory and Nutritional Aspects

This review describes the effects of processing and preservation technologies on sensory and nutritional quality of meat products. Physical methods such as dry aging, dry curing, high pressure processing (HPP), conventional cooking, sous-vide cooking and 3D printing are discussed. Chemical and biochemical methods as fermentation, smoking, curing, marination, and reformulation are also reviewed. Their technical limitations, due to loss of sensory quality when nutritional value of these products is improved, are presented and discussed. There are several studies focused either on the nutritional or sensorial quality of the processed meat products, but more studies with an integration of the two aspects are necessary. Combination of different processing and preservation methods leads to better results of sensory quality; thus, further research in combinations of different techniques are necessary, such that the nutritional value of meat is not compromised.