Fundamentals of Food Printing

• Published in: Food Printing: 3D Printing in Food Industry pp. 19 - 34
• Main Authors: Singh, Harmanpreet, Bhattacharjee, Sagarika
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer 2022; Springer Singapore
• Subjects: 3D printing; Binder jetting; Extrusion-based printing; Food ink; Food printing; Inkjet printing; Nutrition
• ISBN: 9811681201; 9789811681202
• DOI: 10.1007/978-981-16-8121-9_2

Additive manufacturing is the new paradigm of advanced manufacturing. Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a boon for creating complex shapes, which is a cumbersome task with standard manufacturing techniques. The basic idea behind the manufacturing done through 3D printing is to design the product using the computer-aided design (CAD) tools and convert the file into the STL format which is readable by the printing machine and it further prints the product in layer format. Three-dimensional printing can be classified into various forms according to the starting material and the process format used. Food printing is a new concept in the market and can be utilized to create new products using various food inks. It gives an added advantage of personalized nutrition and customized design, which is nonconventional and intriguing concerning food’s general perception. Therefore, 3D printing has received an overwhelming response in the food industry. The technology facilitates unique design to the food structure and improves its palatability. Furthermore, there are four windows of 3D food printing. Those are printability, productivity, material property, and process mechanism. The formulation of food ink considers the desired rheological properties for the printing process. Again, different food printing mechanisms, such as extrusion-based printing, inkjet printing, and binder jetting, carry their process parameters, which require tuning to improve printing performance. Importantly, for the sizeable 3D food structures, the building blocks are their finite layers. While printing a specific portion of a frame, it is crucial to adjust the process parameters following the hydration level and the yielding behavior of those food materials. In sum, the chapter has demonstrated the fundamentals of food printing for the various aspects mentioned above.