Do you know that food can be prepared from a 3D printer?. It would save preparation time and satiate your cravings without compromising on taste or nutrition. Let’s look on to the magic of a 3D food printer.
3D Food Printing
It is an additive manufacturing process where the food material is printed in layers with predetermined taste, texture and nutrition. This technology can be used in applications such as space explorations, meat bioprinting, creative food design and reduced food wastage. 3D food printers can print chocolate, mousse and pancakes. International restaurants serve 3D printed foods.
3D food printing research in India
Thanjavur based Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology [IIFPT] is working on making a 3D food printer suitable for printing Indian snacks. IIFPT director Dr. Anantharamakrishnan pointed out that the 3D food printing research is focusing on the printability of various food materials, product applicability and post-processing stability. The institute has been working on the software aspect to enable the automation of certain additional process required to come up with 3D printed snacks. They have developed a 3D food printer called CARK (Controlled Additive Manufacturing Robotic Kit).
The three categories of food that have been studied are printable foods [rice], non-printable foods [veggies and eggs] and alternative food sources [live vegetable peels/wastes].
Animal-free meat in Israel
Israeli firm Redefined Meat by using proteins and other materials to get 3D printed meat. The redefined meat product’s looks, tastes and feels like the muscle, fat and blood of a meat. In this way slaughtering of cows/ other animals are avoided.
Milk-based products in Singapore
Researchers from Singapore University of Technology and Design [SUTD] have developed a method for 3D printing of milk-based products at room temperature. They have overcome the hurdle that these methods are not always compatible with temperature-sensitive nutrients in milk.
Foodini in Barcelona
Barcelona firm natural Machines developed the 3D printing technology called Foodini. This technology is used by Michelin-starred brothers of Cocina Hermanos Torres- Javier and Sergio. They prepare 100 dishes per day through this printer. Foodini is a Wi-Fi IoT connected kitchen appliance. This includes an app with pre-loaded designs.
Agro-processing wastes is converted into biodegradable food package casings with customized designs.
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