Texture Analysis in Research: Its Importance for 3D Printed Foods

3D printing is becoming mainstream as a design and manufacture tool in many industries. One of these is the food industry, where innovation is a key marketing strategy; consumers will buy into products that have a new spin on ‘fun’ or ‘healthy’. It is a very useful tool in the food industry, bringing digital design to life through the medium of an edible product and allowing full customisation.

Using this tool, a food product or a whole meal can have its ingredients tailored to meet the needs of a patient in hospital or a care home, leading to a better recovery. 3D printing also has the potential to make life easier for those people who use health trackers. There is a possibility that in the future, the user’s fitness tracker can send data to the 3D printer, which will output a meal perfectly tailored to that person’s requirements.

For those with environmental concerns, this method might be appealing as it can use up food that is otherwise destined to be thrown away. This food might not be attractive enough for sale, such as the ugly leftovers from the production process. However, it can be formed into a more appetising shape with the help of 3D printing.

Many people are trying to reduce their meat intake, and this is often for reasons of environmental concern too. 3D printing can help in this area, as it has the ability to use alternative protein sources such as insects. There is a reluctance to eat insects in the West, which is unfortunate as they contain an excellent source of protein and are more environmentally friendly than meat, producing less methane and consuming less water. 3D printing allows insect protein to be reformed into a more appealing shape.

For the consumers who avoid meat for animal welfare reasons, there are companies researching meat that has had its whole structure 3D printed from plant based materials. A common drawback of plant based meat substitutes is that their texture is not close enough to the real thing. However, 3D printing allows structure to be perfectly tailored, fine tuning it to match the mouthfeel and textural parameters of a real piece of meat. And for that type of research, a Texture Analyser is essential. The same concept applies to every 3D printed product type: although food has been reformed into a novel shape, its texture must remain appealing.

The following studies have recently been published on the topic:

Scientists from the State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan, have been researching the 3D printing precision and texture properties of brown rice induced by infill levels and printing variables. Three-dimensional printing is an emerging technology that can be applied to processing of a wide range of food products. The aim of this paper was to assess the printability of brown rice and evaluate the effects of the three variables – nozzle size, perimeters and infill densities – on the quality attributes of 3D printed samples. They used their TA.XT2 Texture Analyser to perform TPA on cylindrical samples.

The texture properties (hardness and gumminess) were strongly related to infill density, followed by perimeters and nozzle size, while the nozzle size was thought to not only change the void rate, but also change the number of layers deposited which indirectly affected the texture characteristics. Besides, the printing time can be reduced a lot due to the decrease of void rate, which suggests a good way to improve the efficiency of printing and reduce the hardness through creating internal structure. Read more...

The same research group has been investigating the texture modification of a 3D printed air-fried potato snack by varying its internal structure with the potential to reduce oil content. Consumers often look for lower fat alternatives to traditional food products, and alternatives such as the product described in this study are very valuable. They used their TA.XT2 Texture Analyser to perform cutting tests on 3D printed samples. The results suggested that the textural properties of the air-fried 3D printed potato snack could be modified by altering its internal structure, possibly offering a new way of oil reduction for potato-based snacks by creating customised internal structure by applying 3D printing. Read more...

Meanwhile, in India, Researchers from the Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology have been investigating 3D printing of egg yolk and white with rice flour blends. 3D printing is an emerging technique for customised fabrication of food. A well-optimised formulation can also be useful for delivering macro and micro nutrients, and eggs are packed with nutrients as well as having functional properties.

This study compares the printability of egg yolk and egg white with blends of rice flour, focussing on the optimisation of extrusion printing parameters. They used their TA.HDplus Texture Analyser to perform Texture Profile Analysis on samples of the mixture. The study found that yolk and white are not printable in their natural form, but are made suitable with the addition of rice flour. Read more...

There is a Texture Analysis test for virtually any physical property. Contact Stable Micro Systems today to learn more about our full range of solutions.

---

For more information on how to measure texture, please visit the Texture Analysis Properties section on our website.

The TA.XTplus texture analyser is part of a family of texture analysis instruments and equipment from Stable Micro Systems. An extensive portfolio of specialist attachments is available to measure and analyse the textural properties of a huge range of food products. Our technical experts can also custom design instrument fixtures according to individual specifications.

No-one understands texture analysis like we do!

To discuss your specific test requirements click here...