Development of a 3D Printer for the Manufacture of Functional Food Protein Gels

Abstract

The use of additive manufacturing is growing in multiple sectors, including food, and its scientific and technological challenges form the subject of much ongoing research. One current hurdle is the implementation of the 3D printing process for meat protein matrices. This article gives an overview of the various 3D printers used to study the printability properties of foods and presents the development of a 3D printer designed to print food protein gels. Printhead development (flow rate and temperature control) and the modifications made to the printing plate (temperature control) are described and discussed in relation to the constraints highlighted in a first prototype. A second, developed prototype was characterized and validated. This last phase showed perfect control of the prototype in the purging of the extrusion system, the flow rate, the calibration and the displacement of the printhead, along with the temperatures at both printhead and plate. A study of the printed gels also revealed good repeatability of the printed gel geometry and pointed to new ways to improve the process. In the near future, the protein gels that will be printed from this prototype will serve as a base for texturizer-free functional foods for people with chewing difficulties.

3D/4D printed super reconstructed foods: Characteristics, research progress, and prospects

“…Development of equipment profile including printing heads, printing platform, and control of the archetype during running of the extrusion system, flow rate, calibration and replacement of the type head, and temperatures at both type head and platform were reviewed in the predecessor's summary (Portanguen et al., 2022).…”

Development of affordable 3D food printer with an exchangeable syringe-pump mechanism

“…Scientists, that require laboratory scale production capacities, resemble the syringe-pump systems and can benefit from the availability of open source and free hardware designs which can be duplicated with inexpensive regular 3D printers [7] . In this context, some of syringe-pump based components/hardware assembly were presented in the literature [8] , [9] , [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] .…”

“…A typical user can easily disassemble the mechanism (SPM), and the polymer extruder of the conventional 3D printer can be replaced back. Like as other open source 3-D printers, this gives opportunity of using same device for food materials and for thermoplastic filaments [9] , [13] , [12] .…”

“…Despite the extrusion with SPM conducted at room temperature, the proposed cooling apparatus allows the cooled air to be carried to the tip of the syringe. It provides an advantage over equivalent syringe pump mechanisms in terms of directly reaching the tip of the syringe [8] , [9] , [11] , [13] , [12] , [19] . With this attribute, the layer stability of prints might be improved for some food materials whose viscosity increases under cold conditions.…”

Investigation into the Physicochemical and Textural Properties of an Iron-Rich 3D-Printed Hybrid Food

“…The technology of 3DFP emerged in 2007 and made it possible to design customized foods from liquid, powder or paste materials, but it quickly demonstrated a potential for the rapid prototyping of formulations, making it equally possible to work on food design and texture [ 11 ]. There have been many studies on the applications of 3DFP technology for populations with specific needs, such as the elderly [ 12 ], young children [ 13 ] or people suffering from metabolic disease [ 14 ]. The 3DFP technology offers a wide range of ingredient choices and precise control of the process and quantities delivered, making it ideally geared to current diet demands and desires of consumers.…”