3D food printing: from structure to perception

Abstract

3D printing is a technology that employs computer-aided designs to build objects on a platform through layer-by-layer deposition. In the past decades, 3D printing has been increasingly applied in a wide array of applications related to construction, art, education and medical services. 3D printing provides distinct advantages such as fast prototyping, the ability to make complex object shapes, and efficient production of customized items (Portanguen et al., 2019).The number of scientific studies investigating the principles and applications of 3D food printing is rapidly increasing. A total of 761 publications have been published about 3D food printing (Fig 1 .1) during the past ten years from 2011 to 2021. The studies indicate that 3D food printing offers the opportunity to create foods with complex geometries, new textures and/or personalized nutritional profiles. Furthermore, 3D food printing has been suggested to contribute to a more sustainable production of food products as it allows for on-demand manufacturing leading to reduction of food waste in the chain (Portanguen et al., 2019;Sun et al., 2015). Very recently also a number of start-up companies popped up such as Revo Foods and Redefine Meat™ that successfully apply 3D printing for manufacturing of foods. Figure 1.1. Number of publications per year about 3D food printing in academic journals during 2011-2021 from database Scopus.Search keywords contained either "3D printing", "3D food printing", "additive manufacturing" or "three-dimensional printing", and contain "food" in the abstract. 8 than that of real muscle fibres (20-100 µm). Creating unique fibrous structures at both macroscale and microscale using 3D printing technology is, therefore, a challenge. To create unique structures, alternative printing formulations, adapted printing procedures and different printing technologies need to be assessed. 1.4.3. Modifying sensory perception using 3D printed foods An often-reported advantage of 3D food printing is its ability to create novel food structures, which may lead to a change in perceived texture. During traditional product development foods are often modified through recipe reformulation, e.g., to lower the caloric content of a food. However, reformulation of foods negatively affects the texture sometimes and, as a result, the acceptance of foods by consumers. An alternative approach is to modify food structure towards improved textural properties without modification of the recipe.Modifications of food texture by changing the macroscopic food structure are appealing because it is well established that texture properties of foods can be used to modify eating behaviours and palatability of foods, which can improve control over food and energy intake (Bolhuis & Forde, 2020; McCrickerd et al al., 2020). As previously mentioned, many studies showed the impact of structural modifications on instrumental texture properties of 3D printed foods. Despite showing promising results, these studies did not explore how structural modifications of 3D printed...