Team devises method for improving 3D-printed food
Marie Donlon | December 07, 2020Teams from Brazil's University of São Paulo's Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture (ESALQ-USP), France’s Nantes Atlantic College of Veterinary Medicine, Food Science and Engineering (Oniris) and the National Institute for Research on Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), have developed a technique with the potential for improving the texture, flavor, color and shape of 3D-printed foods.
The teams expanded upon a previously developed method for producing hydrogels derived from modified starch to create ink for 3D printing food products, wherein the properties of starch were modified via ozone. The team modified cassava starch using ozone they created by issuing an electrical discharge to oxygen, bubbling gas in a container with a combination of water and suspended cassava starch. Once the water was removed, the modified starch was produced.
Food engineers developed gels based on modified starch for use as "ink" to make foods and novel materials by additive manufacturing. Source: Bianca C. Maniglia/USP
Experimenting with variations to the process — for instance, altering temperature, time or ozone concentration — gels with different properties were produced, including those appropriate for use in 3D printing.
Further, the team developed an improved starch modification process dry heating wheat and cassava starch in an oven, enabling them to control both temperature and time. This new process reportedly resulted in modified starch for producing gels with ideal printability, thereby opening up the potential for 3D printing better tasting, aesthetically improved food products.
The research appears in the journal Food Research International.