3D print food – instructions for delicious and healthy food
May 16, 2018 | 09:44 |4737
Agriculture has come a long way from the origins of civilization to our days. Modern methods of food production need radical modernization to meet the needs of a steadily growing population of the planet. Fortunately, it is possible thanks to ... yes, yes, 3D printing technology. Printers that can fit on the desktop and create 3D objects of any configuration from plastics, metals and other raw materials are no longer surprising. Nozzles, pumps, medical implants, toys, jewelry and car prototypes, reproduced with stunning accuracy – this is everyday reality. Culinary 3D printers are also used successfully in confectioneries and bakeries, saving the time of cooks. However, the possibilities of 3D printing are not limited to the creation of a soulless product for the mass market. Recently, at the 2018 Experimental Biology conference, scientists from South Korea introduced a household 3D printer that can allow food texture and body absorption to be customized on a personal level.Maya AMANMURADOVA
The uniqueness of the device is that it creates food with microstructures that replicated the physical properties and nanoscale texture they observed in actual food samples. It can turn carbohydrate and protein powers into food with microstructures that can be tuned to control food texture and how the food is absorbed by the body. Earlier culinary printers used “natural ingredients” such as milk, flour, chocolate, which were dried and grounded into “dust”.
3-D printing of food works much like 3-D printing of other materials in that layers of raw material are deposited to build up a final product. When the print is finished, the product is ready for use.
According to one of the authors of the invention, Jin-Kyu Rhee, associate professor at Ewha Womans University in South Korea, the ability to 3-D print food at home or on an industrial scale could greatly reduce food waste and the cost involved with storage and transportation. It might also help meet the rapidly increasing food needs of a growing world population.
3-D food printing will also allow “printing” products with the required composition and content of nutrients in accordance with the user’s needs and requirements. It will help those who need to keep a strict diet – diabetics, vegetarians, professional athletes, allergy sufferers and so on – to maintain the necessary balance of good and quality.
