Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

An Overview of 3D Printing Technologies for Food Fabrication

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Food and Bioprocess Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Different from robotics-based food manufacturing, three-dimensional (3D) food printing integrates 3D printing and digital gastronomy to revolutionize food manufacturing with customized shape, color, flavor, texture, and even nutrition. Hence, food products can be designed and fabricated to meet individual needs through controlling the amount of printing material and nutrition content. The objectives of this study are to collate, analyze, categorize, and summarize published articles and papers pertaining to 3D food printing and its impact on food processing, as well as to provide a critical insight into the direction of its future development. From the available references, both universal platforms and self-developed platforms are utilized for food printing. These platforms could be reconstructed in terms of process reformulation, material processing, and user interface in the near future. Three types of printing materials (i.e., natively printable materials, non-printable traditional food materials, and alternative ingredients) and two types of recipes (i.e., element-based recipe and traditional recipe) have been used for customized food fabrication. The available 3D food printing technologies and food processing technologies potentially applicable to food printing are presented. Essentially, 3D food printing provides an engineering solution for customized food design and personalized nutrition control, a prototyping tool to facilitate new food product development, and a potential machine to reconfigure a customized food supply chain.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • 3D Systems (2013). 3D Systems acquires the Sugar Lab. Available at: http://www.3dsystems.com/de/press-releases/3d-systems-acquires-sugar-lab Accessed 22 Dec 2014

  • Beetz, M., Klank, U., & Kresse, I. (2011). Robotic roommates making pancakes, In: Proceedings of 11th IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots, 26 Oct–28 Oct 2011, Bled, Slovenia.

  • Bollini, M., Barry, J. & Rus, D. (2011). Bakebot: baking cookies with the PR2, In: The PR2 workshop: challenges and lessons learned in advancing robots with a common platform, IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 25–30 September 2011, San Francisco, USA.

  • Bosker., B. (2013). 3D printers could actually make donuts healthy. Available at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/24/3d-printed-food_n_3148598.html. Accessed 24 April 2013.

  • Burritobot (2014). A 3-D printer that spits out burritos. Available at: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/115967759125319211/. Accessed Dec 2014.

  • CandyFab (2007). The CandyFab project. Available at http://wiki.candyfab.org/Main_Page. Accessed Dec 2014.

  • Causer, C. (2009). They’ve got a golden ticket. Potentials IEEE, 28(4), 42–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choc Creator (2014). Available at: http://chocedge.com/. Accessed Dec 2014.

  • Cohen, D. L., Jeffrey, I. L., Cutler, M., Coulter, D., Vesco, A., & Lipson, H. (2009). Hydrocolloid printing: a novel platform for customized food production. In: Proceedings of solid freeform fabrication symposium (SFF'09), 3–5 August 2009, Austin, TX, USA.

  • Crump, S. S. (1991). Fast, precise, safe prototypes with FDM. In: Proceedings of ASME annual winter conference, 50, 53–60, December, 1991, Atlanta, USA.

  • de Roos, B. (2013). Personalised nutrition: ready for practice? Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 72(01), 48–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, J. (2004). A mini revolution-food manufacture, Available at: http://www.food.manufacture.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/472/A%20mini%20revolution.htm. Accessed 23 April 2009.

  • Electrolux (2009). Interview with Nico Kläber (Moléculaire) Electrolux Design Lab finalist. Available at: http://group.electrolux.com/en/interview-with-nico-klaber-moleculaire-electrolux-design-lab-finalist-2040/. Accessed Dec 2014.

  • Fabaroni (2007). Fabaroni: A home made 3D printer. Available at: http://fab.cba.mit.edu/classes/MIT/863.07/11.05/fabaroni/. Accessed Dec 2014.

  • Fernandez, A., Torres-Giner, S., & Lagaron, J. M. (2009). Novel route to stabilization of bioactive antioxidants by encapsulation in electrospun fibers of zein prolamine. Food Hydrocolloids, 23(5), 1427–1432. doi:10.1007/s11483-009-9119-6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Foodini (2014). Natural machines. Available at: http://www.naturalmachines.com/press-kit/. Accessed Dec 2014.

  • Foodjet (2012). Foodjet. Available at: http://foodjet.nl/. Accessed Dec 2014

  • Gunstone & Fred (1997). Lipid technologies and applications. CRC press.

  • Golding, M., Archer, R., Gupta, G., Wegrzyn, T., Kim, S., & Millen, C. (2011). Design and development of a 3-D food printer. In: Proceedings of NZIFST 2011 Conference, 10–12 July, 2011, Rotorua, New Zealand.

  • Gong, J., Shitara, M., Serizawa, R., Makino, M., Kabir, M. H., & Furukawa, H. (2014). 3D printing of meso-decorated gels and foods. Materials Science Forum, 783, 1250–1254.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gorkin, R., & Dodds, S. (2013). The ultimate iron chef - when 3D printers invade the kitchen. The conversation, 15 October, 1–4, 2013.

  • Gray, N. (2010). Looking to the future: creating novel foods using 3D printing. Available at: http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Looking-to-the-future-Creating-novel-foods-using-3D-printing. Accessed 23 Dec 2010.

  • Hao, L., Mellor, S., Seaman, O., Henderson, J., Sewell, N., & Sloan, M. (2010). Material characterisation and process development for chocolate additive layer manufacturing. Virtual and Physical Prototyping, 5, 57–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, S. H., Liu, P., & Mokasdar, A. (2013). Additive manufacturing and its societal impact: a literature review. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 67(5–8), 1191–1203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kriegel, C., Kit, K. M., McClements, D. J., & Weiss, J. (2009). Influence of surfactant type and concentration on electrospinning of chitosan-poly(ethylene oxide) blend nanofibers. Food Biophysics, 4(3), 213–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • La Bau, E. (2014). Sugar cubes. Available at: http://candy.about.com/od/sugarcandy/r/Sugar-Cubes.htm Accessed 22 Dec 2014

  • Lipton, J., Cohen, D., Heinz, M., Lobovsky, M. (2009). Fab@Home Model 2: towards ubiquitous personal fabrication devices. In: Solid freeform fabrication symposium (SFF’09), Aug 3–5 2009, Austin, TX, USA.

  • Lipton, J., Arnold, D., & Nigl, F. (2010). Multi-material food printing with complex internal structure suitable for conventional post-processing, In: Proceedings of solid freeform fabrication symposium, August 2010, Austin TX, USA.

  • Makerbot (2010). Introducing the MakerBot Industries Frostruder MK2. Available at: http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2010/05/14/introducing-the-makerbot-industries-frostruder-mk2/. Accessed Dec 2014.

  • Malone, E., & Lipson, H. (2007). Fab@Home: the personal desktop fabricator kit. Rapid Prototyping Journal, 13(4), 245–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Millen, C. I. (2012). The development of colour 3D food printing system. Master thesis. Massey University. New Zealand.

  • Mironov, V., Trusk, T., & Kasyanov, V. (2009). Biofabrication: a 21st century manufacturing paradigm. Biofabrication, 1(2).

  • Neethirajan, S., & Jayas, D. S. (2011). Nanotechnology for the food and bioprocessing industries. Food and Bioprocess Technology, 4(1), 39–47.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nikitina, V. E., Tsivileva, O. M., & Pankratov, A. N. (2007). Lentinula edodes biotechnology - from lentinan to lectins. Food and Bioprocess Technology, 45, 230–237.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Periard, D., Schaal, N., & Schaal, M. (2007). Printing food, In: Proceedings of the 18th solid freeform fabrication symposium, 564–574, 2007, Austin TX, USA.

  • Philips Design (2010). New design probe explores the future of food. Available at: www.design.philips.com/philips/sites/philipsdesign/about/design/designnews/pressreleases/foodprobes.page. Accessed 22 March 2010.

  • Sachs, E., Cima, M., Williams, P., Brancazio, D., & Cornie, J. (1992). Three dimensional printing: rapid tooling and prototypes directly from a CAD model. Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, 114(4), 481–488.

    Google Scholar 

  • Serizawa, R., Shitara, M., Gong, J., Makino, M., Kabir, M. H., & Furukawa, H. (2014). 3D jet printer of edible gels for food creation. In: Proceedings of SPIE smart structures and materials + nondestructive evaluation and health monitoring, 9–13 March 2014, San Diego, United States.

  • Silva, É. S., Cavallazzi, J. R. P., & Muller, G. (2007). Biotechnological applications of Lentinus edodes. Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment, 5, 403–407.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Southerland, D., Walters, P., & Huson, D. (2011). Edible 3D printing, In Proceeding of NIP & digital fabrication conference. Society for Imaging Science and Technology, 2, 819–822.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stewart-Knox, B., & Mitchell, P. (2003). What separates the winners from the losers in new food product development? Trends in Food Science & Technology, 14, 58–64.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Torrone, P. (2007). Solid freeform fabrication: DIY, on the cheap, and made of pure sugar, Available at: http://www.evilmadscientist.com/2007/solid-freeform-fabrication-diy-on-the-cheap-and-made-of-pure-sugar/ Accessed 22 Dec 2014.

  • van Bommel, K., & Spicer, A. (2011). Hail the snail: hegemonic struggles in the slow food movement. Organization Studies, 32(12), 1717–1744.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, P., Huson, D., & Southerland, D. (2011). Edible 3D printing, In: Proceedings of 27th international conference on digital printing technologies, October 2011, Minnesota, USA.

  • Watzke, H., & German, J. (2010). Personalizing foods. In H. Moskovitz, I. Saguy, & T. Strauss (Eds.), An integrated approach to new food product development (pp. 133–173). USA: CRC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wegrzyn, T. F., Golding, M., & Archer, R. H. (2012). Food layered manufacture: a new process for constructing solid foods. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 27(2), 66–72.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Winger, R., & Wall, G. (2006). Food product innovation: A background paper. Rome: Food and agriculture organization of the United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xu, Q., Qin, H., & Yin, Z. (2013). Coaxial electrohydrodynamic atomization process for production of polymeric composite microspheres. Chemical Engineering Science, 104, 330–346.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yang, J., Wu, L., & Liu, J. (2001). Rapid prototyping and fabrication method for 3-D food objects, U.S. Patent No. 6280785.

  • Yu, Y. Z., Zheng, L. L., & Chen, H. P. (2014). Fabrication of hierarchical polycaprolactone/gel scaffolds via combined 3D bioprinting and electrospinning for tissue engineering. Advances in Manufacturing, 2(3), 231–238.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zoran, A., & Coelho, M. (2011). Cornucopia: the concept of digital gastronomy. Leonardo, 44(5), 425–431.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research is supported by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore, under its International Research Centre @ Singapore Funding Initiative and administered by the Interactive & Digital Media Programme Office. It is also partially sponsored by the Jiangsu Province Science and Technology Support Program, China, under Grant No. BE2013057.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Keio-NUS CUTE Center, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Jie Sun

  2. National University of Singapore (Suzhou) Research Institute, Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou, 215123, People’s Republic of China

    Jie Sun, Weibiao Zhou, Dejian Huang, Jerry Y. H. Fuh & Geok Soon Hong

  3. Food Science and Technology Programme, Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Weibiao Zhou & Dejian Huang

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

    Jerry Y. H. Fuh & Geok Soon Hong

Authors
  1. Jie Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Weibiao Zhou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Dejian Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jerry Y. H. Fuh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Geok Soon Hong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jie Sun.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sun, J., Zhou, W., Huang, D. et al. An Overview of 3D Printing Technologies for Food Fabrication. Food Bioprocess Technol 8, 1605–1615 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-015-1528-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-015-1528-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation