3D FOOD PRINTING: A NOVEL TECHNOLOGY IN FOOD

Do you know what is 3D Food Printing?

3D food printing is the process of manufacturing food products using a variety of additive

 manufacturing technology that has been applied to directly construct physical model from 3D model without mold and die. A 3D food printing technique is composed of an extrusion-base printing, binder jetting and inkjet printing. The food materials such as sugar, chocolate, and cheese are used to create designed shape based on layer-by-layer.Today, 3D printing is no longer an idea, but a reality that can revolutionize food innovation and production through better creativity. The food can be customized in shape, color, texture, flavor or nutrition, which makes it very useful in various fields such as space exploration and healthcare.

General principles

There are three general areas that impact precise and accurate food printing: materials/ingredients (viscosity, powder size), process parameters (nozzle diameter, printing speed, printing distance), and post-processing methods (baking, microwaving, frying).

Working Principle

A 3D printer essentially works by extruding molten material through a tiny nozzle that it moves around precisely under computer control. Most commonly, food grade syringes hold the printing material, which is then deposited through a food grade nozzle layer by layer. Several food industries utilize this technology to manufacture a complicated food structures. The advantage 3D food printing is ability to produce complex food model and ability to design unique pattern. The users can remotely design their food on their computers, phones or some IT device.

Classification of 3D printing techniques

1. Extrusion-based printing

The platform on which food is printed consists of a standard 3-axis stage with a computer controlled extrusion head. In this extrusion-based printing process, material is loaded in extruder (cylinder) before it is extruded through nozzle by ram pressure to create food shape layer – by – layer. This extrusion head pushes food materials through a nozzle typically by way of compressed air or squeezing. The nozzles can vary with respect to what type of food is being extruded or the desired printing speed. The starting material of extrusion-based printing can be both solid and paste (soft) with low viscosity. Some printed food requires additional processing such as baking or frying before consumption. Extrusion based food printers can be purchased for household use, are typically compact in size, and have a low maintenance cost. 

2. Inkjet printing

Inkjet printing is used for surface filling or image decoration.The inkjet printing dispenses a material stream of droplets from a thermal head to certain regions for creating the surface filling or decorating on food surfaces, such as cookie, cake, and pizza. This process generally operates by using thermal or piezoelectric heads. In a thermal inkjet printer, the print head is electrically heated to establish pulses of pressure that push droplets from the nozzle. The ink droplets may consist of a broad range of colours allowing users to create unique and individualized food images. Inkjet printers can be purchased for household or commercial use, and industrial printers are suitable for mass production.

There are two types of inkjet printing methods:

1. Continuous jet printing: For the continuous jet printer, an ink is ejected continuously through a piezoelectric crystal by vibrating with a constant frequency.

2. drop-on-demand printing: For a dropon-demand printer, a valve is a controller ink to eject out from heads under designed pressure. The printing rates of drop-on-demand systems are generally slower than the continuous jet systems.

The inkjet printer normally handle low viscosity materials; Typical deposited materials are chocolate, liquid dough, sugar icing, meat paste, cheese, jams, gels and etc.

3. Binder jetting

The binder jetting, which is an additive manufacturing technology, constructs model by using a binder to bond layers of powders. Instead of using heat to bond the materials together, a liquid binder is used. In this process, small droplets of binder with diameters less than 100 μm are successively deposited on to the powder bed surface. After deposition of the liquid binder, the entire surface of the powder bed is exposed to a fixed amount of heat, which commonly use a heat lamp, for promoting an appropriated mechanical strength via binder within the generated layer to withstand the shear and gravitational compressive forces involved in the spreading and printing of subsequent layers. These steps are repeated for each layer until the whole feature was completed.

For binder jetting process, properties of powdered material and binder are important. In binder jetting, food materials are successively deposited on to the powder bed surface through nozzle.

The Advantages of 3D Food Printing

3D food printing stands to gain a lot from this newfound interest in the technology. Food printing manufacturers are already lauding the capability of 3D food printers to boost culinary creativity, nutritional and ingredient customizability, and food sustainability. Some of advantages of 3D food printing include –

• Novelty/fun/creativity: fine-dining/creative gastronomy; creative domestic cooking; decorative items (for example, for cakes); food for special occasions; food for children

• Saving Time and Effort: 3D printing food can save both time and energy when it comes to experimenting with chocolate/sugar cake toppers.
• Innovation in Healthy Food: Today, 3D printing has gone beyond the kitchen. Thatcan also use in various snacks and other such natural and transportable products will transform the food industry someday.
• Food Sustainability: 3D Food Printing has the ability to supply an ever-growing world population as compared to traditional food manufacturing systems. At the same time, food printers could also minimize waste.
• Personalized Nutrition: Personalized dietary requirements for an individual’s nutritional needs have been linked to the prevention of diseases. As such, eating nutritious food is paramount to living a healthy life. 3D printed food can provide the control necessary to put a custom amount of protein, sugar, vitamins, and minerals into the foods we consume.

          
          Recent Advances In Food Technology

1.       .   Food technology innovations
2.        Genetically Modified Foods.
3.           Emerging preservation technologies
4.       Advances in Freezing Technology
5.        Advances in Emulsion Science
6.        Hackathons and 3D Printing
7. 
   

     Limitations of 3D food Printing

·         Cost

·         limited resources

·         compatibility of materials

·         acceptability of consumers

·         capacity of printers