What You Need to Know
The extrusion-based method uses a mixture of starch, protein, and fat, heated to 80°C to 120°C, while the powder-based method uses sugar, starch, and fat powders bound with a liquid binder. The printing process can take from a few minutes to several hours, depending on design complexity and printer type.
Steps
- 1.
Personalized nutrient-dense meals (Healthcare (Europe)): Creates customized meals for patients with swallowing difficulties
- 2.
Complex chocolate sculptures (Patisserie (France)): Enables intricate designs impossible with traditional molding
- 3.
Alternative protein structures (Food tech (Israel)): Creates meat-like textures from plant proteins
The Science
Primary Reaction
Thermoplastic extrusion or powder binding