3D printing of gels based on xanthan/konjac gums

3D printing technology is a promising technology with the possibility of use for developing personalised food. To make this technology easier, and readily available for consumers, greater knowledge of the printing conditions and characteristics of food-ink is needed. This paper investigates the printability of gels based on syrup, xanthan, and konjac gums, while affecting printing variables. Those variables include the printing temperature (25 °C and 50 °C) and the composition of the product analysed using rheological and textural characterisation techniques. Also, the link between rheological and textural properties of gels, and printability was analysed. The higher values of G′, G″ and η* correlated to the mixtures with lower syrup concentration, and higher values of xanthan and konjac gum. Syrup, xanthan gum and konjac gum content influenced the textural properties. With the increase of syrup content, the Fmax, Fmean, Area, and slope showed reductions giving more weak gels. Rheological and textural values can define composition of formulations that give rise to valid 3D printed figures.Industrial relevanceThere is an increasing market need for customized food products. Three-dimensional (3D) food printing will be developed in the coming years. Undoubtedly, food printing can have many advantages, but whether the market is ready for such a big change and the technology will grow fast enough are the questions. Also it seems to be the right solution to meet the needs of today's consumers who increasingly have too little time to prepare meals on their own, especially in small or single-person households. In the future, ready, healthy meal, tailored to their individual needs, will be waiting when coming home. 3D printed gels can contribute to develop personalised food with specific nutritional characteristics. For example, this kind of gels can be used to manufacture soft foods for the elderly who have problems to swallow.     

Analyzing the effects of 3D printing process per se on the microstructure and mechanical properties of cereal food products

3D Food Printing has gaining interest to create food with personalized properties. In order to customize the texture it is necessary to explore whether and how 3D printing process per se has consequences on the mechanical features. As test case, a cubical cereal-based structure was manufactured by traditional processing and 3D printing. Microstructure properties and mechanical attributes were analyzed. Here we show that 3D printing clearly affects the microstructure generating bigger pores, less in number and like-round in shape. Also, we have observed that the positions of the pores are greatly driven by the printing movements. These features significantly affect the mechanical properties of 3D samples showing high hardness, chewiness and cohesiveness. The obtained data have been linked and interpreted on the basis of three main key-points: 1. the printing path; 2. the imbalance between speed printing and extrusion rate; 3. the compression of the food formula in the extrusion system. These findings should be considered for creating food with innovative texture perceptions.Industrial relevance: The creation of 3D printed food with programmed texture has the ambitions of getting personalized properties improving industry competitiveness by novel texture perceptions and also helping to mitigate swallowing or mastication problems of vulnerable peoples. Here we show that 3D Printing process per se – intrinsically – modifies the morphology and the distribution of pores in 3D structure thereby affecting the texture of cereal-based snacks. All these because pores generation is not ‘randomly’ distributed as for traditional manufacturing methods but driven by printing movements previously planned during the slicing of digital model. With the aim to get personalized food texture the intimate relationship between the movements of printing and the food texture shall taken into account by interested industries and producers.     

Predicting the extrudability of complex food materials during 3D printing based on image analysis and gray-box data-driven modelling

Material extrudability is a prerequisite for printing 3D structures with extrusion-based food printing. Food materials with different shear-thinning behaviors were printed to develop predictive models for extrudability. A dataset of 131 unique combinations of materials and printing parameters was collected. Image analysis was employed to rapidly quantify extrudability as determined by mode width, line height and width consistency of line filaments. The relation between the printing pressure and the volumetric flow rate followed a power-law relation, which characterizes the extent of shear-thinning of the food materials. Both regression and classification models were trained and tested using the random forest algorithm. The model performance indicated that extrudability can be predicted with moderate to high accuracy by using rheological measurements and printing parameters as inputs. The predictive workflow developed in this study provides a framework to quantitatively assess and predict extrudability for 3D printing of complex food materials.Industrial relevanceExtrusion-based 3D printing has been applied to customize food designs and can potentially enable personalized nutrition. To achieve this, we need to be able to effectively print complex food materials with high accuracy. Variations in composition and rheological properties of complex food materials make achieving proper extrudability not trivial at this moment, and this limits their applicability to extrusion-based food printing. Here, we developed an image analysis tool to measure line filament extrusion of complex food materials that vary in shear-thinning behaviors. We then built predictive models to estimate material extrudability based on material's shear-thinning properties and printing parameters. Data-driven prediction of material's extrudability can help avoid excessive trial-and error experiments in future.     

食品3D打印技术在现代食品工业中的应用进展

3D打印技术,作为一种集成数字化软件和加工设备为一体的新技术,可以实现物体构造的定制化、可打印以及批量生产.近年来,随着该技术的发展,3D打印技术越来越多地与现代食品工业结合,实现食品生产的高效率、个性化、可持续,同时满足多元化人群的营养需求.基于此,该文介绍食品3D打印技术分类、平台设计、实施方案、打印原料、辅助技术...     

以科技推行电子监管码管理——访上海仕贵宝油墨制造有限公司总经理周振耀

<正> 从2008年7月1日起,包括食品、家用电器等在内的9大类69种产品须加贴电子监管码才能生产和销售。因特殊原因不能及时施行的,国家质检总局也设定了最后期限——不得超过2008年12月31日。目前全国入网企业已达58465家,22.5亿件产品已赋码激活上市。电子监管码是科技高速发展下的产物,它是在商品生产环     

基于食品3D打印技术的食品原料研究及应用

3D打印技术作为一项新兴的智能食品加工技术,已经被广泛应用在食品、材料、航天、汽车、建筑模型等多个领域。食品3D打印技术又被称为一项“增材制造”技术,具备方便、灵活、高精度等优点,可以实现食品外观、颜色、质地、味道和配方的个性化定制。本文从食品3D打印原理、3D食品材料和应用等方面进行综述,以期为食品3D打印材料的开发和应用奠定基础。     

基于果蔬原料的食品3D打印技术及其应用

作为新兴数字化生产技术,3D打印技术已在许多领域中被广泛应用。其在食品领域中的应用可满足人们对食品定制化、个性化营养和数字化营养的需求,能进一步简化食品供应链体系,拓宽食材来源。水果和蔬菜富含多种营养素,是人类饮食的重要组成部分。相对于面团、巧克力、肉糜等食材,水果和蔬菜具有含水量高、难成形、易褐变的特点,因此很难实现直接3D打印。为了更好地了解水果和蔬菜在食品3D打印领域的应用情况,本文从食品3D打印的原料特性要求、果蔬原料特性以及3D打印果蔬材料的加工技术等方面进行了综述,并对其发展趋势作出展望。     

食品3D打印技术及其在肉类加工中应用的研究进展

食品3D打印技术是一种具有定制特定形状、实现个性化营养、开发新型资源等功能的未来食品加工技术。在肉类产业中,食品3D打印技术的应用可以实现肉类加工产业链的升级,例如减少原料肉的浪费、提高产品附加值和开发畜禽副产品等。基于此,本文介绍了食品3D打印技术的工作原理,并对肉类原料适印性的研究进行分析与总结,同时,展望食品3D打印技术在肉类生产加工中的应用前景,以期为食品3D打印技术在肉品领域中的应用提供科学依据和理论参考。     

Printing on Food or Food Printing: a Review

The processes of printing foodstuffs or imaging on an unconventional surface deserve extra attention in comparison with conventional techniques especially in relation with the substrate interested that will or should say a lot about the concept behind the design. Indeed, while printing on food, designers are required to consider carefully both, the appropriate edible inks and the production processes. Moreover, printing on food packaging requires almost as much care. However, the concept of food printing represents nowadays a new frontier in food processing and industry to realize new food products of complex shapes and colour and with particular mixtures. At the moment, many current research projects and products related to food printing are being developed. In 2011, a European Cooperation in Science and Technology action named “New possibilities for print media and packaging, combining print with digital” was created with the aim to promote an interdisciplinary interaction among European research partner with several different research backgrounds. Among the aims of the project, a crucial aspect regards the combination of food expertise with printing using new technologies in order to print on food or food printing. In light of this scenario, image processing and machine control occupy a very important part of the research: a number of programs were written or modified as part of the research into food printing. This review aims to produce an updated analysis on the current developments regarding the technology for food printing and printing on food. In this sense, the work starts giving an overview of the 2D and three-dimensional (3D) printer technology and moves on the food media, edible substrate used by 3D printers and a print of food chapter, related to the substrates used by the 2D printers.     

Factors affecting 3D printing and post-processing capacity of cookie dough

This study aimed to investigate the factors affecting the printability and post-processing capacity of cookie dough in extrusion-based three-dimensional (3D) printing by modifying the recipe without the addition of gums or stabilizers. Cookie dough formulations with different types of fat (butter and shortening), flour (wheat, rice, and tapioca), the amount of non-fat milk (32.5 or 65 g/100 g flour), and the sugar level (37.5 or 55 g/100 g flour) were investigated for their printability and post-processing capacity. Rheological properties, microstructure, and printability of printing inks were monitored while the moisture loss and dimensional stability after baking were analyzed in printed and baked structures, respectively. Results indicated that cookie dough formulations with reduced sugar content were more printable. The best sample to build a shape that could withstand the baking process was the recipe of 37.5 g sugar, 62.5 g shortening, 100 g tapioca flour, and 32.5 g milk, which yielded printed cookie samples with the ease of printing, better visual printing outcomes, and no structural deformation after baking.Industrial relevance3D food printing is an emerging technology with many potential applications in the food industry. It is important to understand the effects of key components of food materials on the printing, which enable a wider range of structures just using a single nozzle, and provide tailored nutrition and personalization in extrusion-based 3D printing. Understanding the effects of food processing on 3D printed food items is critical to broadening its applications. This study selected cookie dough as a model system to investigate the 3D food printing since it is mainly composed of fat, sugar, flour, and milk that are the most common ingredients in many food products. Establishing knowledge of the interactions between different food components and contribution of each individual ingredient may help develop a guideline for extrusion-based 3D food printing. In addition, the results acquired from this study can fill knowledge gaps regarding the role of cookie dough component in 3D printing and their effects on post-processing of 3D printed foods.     

Materials Properties of Printable Edible Inks and Printing Parameters Optimization during 3D Printing: a review

ABSTRACT

Background: Interest in additive manufacture has grown significantly in recent years, driving a need for printable materials that can sustain high strains and still fulfill their function in applications such as tissue engineering, regenerative medicine field, food engineering and field of aerospace, etc. As an emerging and promising technology, 3Dprinting has attracted more and more attention with fast manipulation, reduce production cost, customize geometry, increase competitiveness and advantages in many hot research areas. Many researchers have done a lot of investigations on printable materials, ranging from a single material to composite material. Main content: This review focuses on the contents of printable edible inks. It also gathers and analyzes information on the effects of printable edible ink material properties on 3D print accuracy. In addition, it discusses the impact of printing parameters on accurate printing, and puts forward current challenges and recommendations for future research and development.     

Synergistic effect of microwave 3D print and transglutaminase on the self-gelation of surimi during printing

To improve the molding quality of 3D printed surimi products under the disturbance of self-gravity and post-processing, the synergistic effect of a microwave 3D print (MW3DP) and transglutaminase (TGase) on the self-gelation process of surimi from fluid to solid gel state during 3D printing is investigated. Simulation and 3D printing results show that microwave power affected the extrudability by changing the temperature distribution of surimi in the nozzle. Rheological properties of the squeezed-out surimi were monitored while the gel properties, microstructure and self-gelation mechanism of products after printing were analyzed. Surimi exhibited shear-thinning behavior when microwave power was less than 60 W/g. After printing, the solid gels with better shape fidelity and large protein aggregates appeared at 40 and 50 W/g when TGase was added. Results indicate that hydrogen bonds and ɛ-(γ-Glu)-Lys are main forces to maintain molding quality, and TGase is activated by microwaves to promote the self-gelation process.Industrial relevance3D food printing, as an emerging technology in food industry, has great potential in meeting the individual needs of consumers for shapes and nutrition. One of the challenges that restricts the large-scale industrialization and commercialization of 3D food printing is that deformation will occur during printing and subsequent processing because most food materials are still flowing after printing. This study provided a synergistic method of MW3DP with a focused heating mode and TGase, realizing self-gelation of surimi during printing. A solid product with high resistance to deformation was obtained in this condition. Valuable guidance is provided to obtain heat-induced solid products with better shape fidelity. In addition, a more complex hollow shape can be printed to improve the personalization of food manufacturing, thus promoting further applications of 3D printing in food industry.     

食品接触材料及制品用油墨安全性管理模式研究

目的研究世界各国食品接触材料及制品用油墨的相关法律法规、指令及指南文件,为我国食品接触材料及制品用油墨产品标准的建立及油墨安全性管理模式的完善提供建议。方法收集世界各国相关法律法规、指令及指南文件,梳理、对比各种管理模式在应用范围、管理方法等方面的异同,研究其中可为我国油墨安全性管理所借鉴和参考的内容。结果总结出欧盟和德国、美国、日本等世界主要发达国家和地区油墨安全性管理模式及管理经验。结论建议我国应结合行业现状,针对不同种类油墨的安全性风险,适当参考其他国家管理经验,尽快建立食品接触材料及制品用油墨产品安全标准,同时鼓励行业协会积极参与油墨的安全性管理。     

思路决定价值

几元钱的普通台历是必需品．三五十元的个性化台历就变成了奢侈品。数码印刷的技术优势是“一张起印、张张不同”．但如何让奢侈的个性化印刷消费理念深入人心,并由此为数码印刷经营者创造足以与工业化生产匹配的业务和利润源．一直是个问题。     

Defects in 3D/4D food printing and their possible solutions: A comprehensive review

3D food printing has recently attracted significant attention, both from academic and industrial researchers, due to its ability to manufacture customized products in such terms as size, shape, texture, color, and nutrition to meet demands of individual consumers. 4D printing, which is a technique that allows evolution of various characteristics/properties of 3D printed objects over time through external stimulation, has also been gaining more attention. In order to produce defect-free printed objects via both 3D and 4D printing, it is necessary to first identify the causes of defects and then their mitigation strategies. Comprehensive review on these important issues is nevertheless missing. The purpose of this review is to investigate causes and characteristics of defects occurring during and/or after 3D food printing, with a focus on how different factors affect the printing accuracy. Various techniques that can potentially minimize or eliminate printing defects and produce high-quality 3D/4D printed food products without the need for time-consuming trial and error printing experiments are critically discussed. Guidelines to avoid defects to improve the efficiency of future 3D/4D printed food production are given.     

基于肉类原料的3D打印技术研究进展

食品3D打印技术是一种新兴的数字化生产技术,通过3D打印可以设计并生产营养价值更高、感官品质更佳的新型食品.肉类是人类饮食结构中很重要的一部分,为人类提供各种营养素.基于肉类加工的3D打印技术拥有很大的市场需求,具有很好的开发价值.本文简单介绍了食品3D打印机的结构和原理,详细论述了肉糜和培养肉的3D打印工艺,并介绍了...     

纺织品数码喷墨印花技术和应用前景展望

概述了数码喷墨印花系统,指出了数码喷墨印花机理和喷印方式,总结了该印花技术的最新发展,介绍了该印花技术的工艺,以及印花所用墨水的特点与类型,探讨了数码喷墨印花机印花的注意事项,比较了数码喷墨印花与传统印花的特点,综述了数码喷墨印花的发展前景。     

Printing newspaper free of mineral oil: report on a test run

The Swiss retailer Coop printed part of his weekly newspaper with inks formulated without mineral oil. The experiment explored this approach to reduce the migration of mineral oil into food when newspaper is recycled to paperboard for food packaging. The mineral oil was replaced by plant oils as well as poly alpha olefins (PAO) with the lowest mass above the n-alkane C₂₄, i.e. of a volatility low enough to prevent transfer through the gas phase into food. With this composition, no major adjustments of the printing machine were necessary. The printing quality was judged excellent by the International Newspaper Color Quality Club (INCQC). As the carryover in the installations was known to be a serious problem, 30 t of inks were used, initially printing daily newspapers and other printed material. Measurement of the residual mineral oil in the inks as delivered to the printing plant and monitored at the top of a printing tower confirmed that no rapid exchange of inks is possible.     

数码印花技术的进展

介绍了数码印花技术的发展历程及世界各国最新一代的数码印花设备，同时对数码印花用墨水的主要成分及喷墨技术进行了介绍，指出了数码印花设备需要解决的问题。     

羊绒织物数码喷墨印花

介绍用于羊绒织物数码喷墨印花用的酸性墨水和活性墨水，以及织物印花前处理工艺、蒸化和喷印工艺的相关参数。羊绒织物数码印花采用色卡调色法和HLS色彩系统，印花色牢度优良。