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3D food printing: a categorised review of inks and their development
Open accessAbstract
3D food printing, or the use of food materials in additive manufacturing, has been a topic of interest to the commercial sector for the past decade. Recently, there has also been increased attention from the academic field, with a considerable volume of research being published. Most of these studies have focused on developing food inks for extrusion-based printing beyond conventional materials such as chocolate, resulting in a much wider range of printable and edible materials. The formulations of these materials are of particular interest, as they determine the rheological and mechanical properties of food inks, thereby affecting the final quality of the printed food. This article reviews the current status and possible directions in food ink research across five categories, namely confectionery, dairy, hydrogels, plants, and meat. The roles of additives in these inks are then discussed, followed by the remaining challenges and potential opportunities in 3D food printing.
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“The dyeing process involving natural dyes typically follows three main steps: adsorption, penetration, and fixation[11-15].”
From EXPLOITING ECO-FRIENDLY NATURAL DYES FROM PLANT SOURCES: EXTRACTION AND DIVERSE APPLICATIONS (2024) · cites this paper as [13]
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BackgroundFONKSİYONEL ÖZELLİKLERİ İYİLEŞTİRİLMİŞ 3B GIDA BASIMI: BİR DERLEME
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Handa, S., Goswami, K., Fatima, H., Saxena, P., Agrawal, G., & Murab, S. (2026) · Applied Materials Today · doi:10.1016/j.apmt.2026.103454
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“…cannot sufficiently resist deformation after extrusion, causing the deposited strands to spread excessively and reducing geometric fidelity [53,54]. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods15203595 Deformation Deformation, which represents the dimensional change of the printed structure after…”
InfluentialVay, E., & Ozbolat, V. (2026) · Foods · doi:10.3390/foods15203709
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“For extrusion-based printing, the ink must exhibit shear-thinning behavior (viscosity decreases under high shear during extrusion) and rapid structural recovery (high recovery rate of G ′ after deposition) to maintain filament shape [19,20].”
Choudhary, A., & Dhewa, T. (2026) · Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition · doi:10.1080/10408398.2026.2721244
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3D printing of dairy ingredients and milk products: advances, challenges, and future perspectives
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Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Voon, S. L., An, J., Wong, G., Zhang, Y., & Chua, C. K.
- Affiliations
- Nanyang Technological University (SG)
- Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (SG)
- Corresponding author
- Voon, Siew Li
- Venue
- Virtual and Physical Prototyping
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2019-04-15
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 203-218
- ISSN
- 1745-2759 (ISSN-L)
- 1745-2767
- OpenAlex
- W2935797592
- Cited by
- 175
- References
- 65
- Citations by year
- 2026: 19 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 5
- FWCI
- 8.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Locations
- Virtual and Physical Prototyping (publishedVersion)
- DR-NTU (Nanyang Technological University) (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Research Foundation Singapore (501100001381)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering › Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Technologies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Innovations in Concrete and Construction Materials
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › 3D Printing in Biomedical Research
- Keywords
- 3D food printing, edible ink, extrusion-based printing, edible materials, chocolate, confectionery, dairy products, hydrogels, rheological properties, mechanical properties, additives
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