Coaxial 3D printing of chicken surimi incorporated with mealworm protein isolate as texture-modified food for the elderly

Elderly people commonly face difficulties swallowing food. Food with soft texture, nutritious, and visually appealing is desirable for the elderly. This study aimed to modify the texture of chicken surimi (CS) by incorporating with mealworm protein isolate (MPI), and coaxial three-dimensional (3D) printing was used to generate fibrous structure as food for the elderly. The G’ values significantly decreased when increasing MPI content, illustrating the decreased viscoelastic properties of surimi ink. After post-processing, the printed surimi exhibited water-holding capacity (WHC) enhancement and cooking loss retention. The significant reduction in hardness with increased MPI content (p < 0.05) was observed, correlating with microstructural changes of surimi. MPI (50%) mixed with CS was the maximum printable content with a well-defined resolution and showed a lower hardness value (4.13 × 104 ± 0.61 N/m2), corresponding to stage 2 of the universal design food (UDF) guideline. This study successfully modified the texture of surimi with a fibrous shape as a novel elderly food.