3D Food Printing: Nourishment For Individual Uniqueness

Customization of food indicates that the nutritional requirements for every individual are unique. The way how food is absorbed by the body and the nutrients are metabolized is distinct, and is the representative of individual genetic profile and the gut microbiome. Additionally, individual preferences of food attributes like taste, texture, color, esthetics, and appearance are also encompassed in customizing foods.

- Abdullah Bareen and Dr. Vithu Prabha

Growing demand for healthier food choices has urged food producers to come up with several constituent and technical solutions. By ‘healthy diet’, WHO considers as the foundation to the physical and mental wellbeing of an individual, and devoid of any nutrition-related illnesses. While several promotions addressing what is nutritious to eat have been largely employed by several organizations, there is rarely a few that is competent enough to transform eating preferences and lowering the pandemic escalation of metabolic diseases. Such failures emphasize the incongruity of the approach of a one-fit-for-all diet. It may be assumed that a big discrepancy exists between the diets recommended, what is available to the consumers, and what they wish to take. Moreover, visual quality factors including taste, texture, and serving size and shape matter here. This scenario may be addressed by advanced manufacturing techniques and the creation of novel pattern foods supplemented with deficient nutrients.

3D printing technology characterizes a digitally controlled manufacturing process to create complex-shaped three-dimensional food constructs by laying down successive layers of specially prepared food ingredients. It has been employed widely in the food sector to fabricate foods with particular microstructure and tailored nutritional contents. The composition of the food matrix and the network formed by the printing may be customized on consumer demand. The main component of a food printing process is a 3D printer (Figure 1) associated with monitoring and control accessories. A computer enables the communication between the user and the printer through the software which allows the computer to transmit commands to a motor control unit, which regulates the platform and extruder mechanisms. The 3D printing process for preparing semi-cooked snacks in packed or as baked form is illustrated schematically in Figure 2.