Expansion of food types via 3D food printing: artificial meat, super-care food, 4D food, and edible robots

Abstract

In recent years, many companies and research institutes have been conducting research on food 3D printers. The most commonly known 3D printing method is the thermal melting and lamination method, fused deposition modeling (FDM), in which plastic materials are melted and then ejected from a nozzle. The plastic materials used in this method are thermoplastic resins such as ABS and PLA. In order to 3D print a variety of materials, various types of 3D printing methods have been developed, and it is currently already possible to 3D print materials including metal, wood, and gel. There is also a growing movement to apply this technology to the food industry to create food using 3D printers. There are a variety of food materials, such as chocolate, jelly, and dough, and accordingly, there are various types of 3D printing methods, such as the syringe method and the screw method. In this paper, we introduce various types of food 3D printers and their applications.