Systematic Engineering approach for optimization of multi-component alternative protein-fortified 3D printing food Ink

Three-dimensional food printing (3DFP) of multicomponent inks fortified with alternative proteins can help drive consumers towards easier and greater acceptance of alternative proteins by familiar nature of the final printed products with respects to taste, texture and appearance. Protein fortification is a well-established way of improving the nutritional and functional properties of foods and helping prevent malnutrition. This work focuses on the optimization of multicomponent food inks containing alternative proteins through response surface methodology (RSM) for 3D printing. RSM reduces the number of experiments required to robustly investigate the interrelationships between the desired response and composition of inks, thereby saving precious resources and time. A plant protein, three insect proteins, and an algae protein along with a traditional animal protein were chosen to fortify carrot powder. Usage of carrot as a vegetable food base to which different proteins and xanthan gum were combined served the purpose of adding the flavour and nutrition as well as providing desired rheological properties for printing. The six protein inks were optimised with the addition of hydrocolloid xanthan gum which worked as an excellent shear thinning and hydrating agent. Printability and syneresis were the targeted responses for optimization by RSM with the second order multiple linear regression model. The rheology, microstructure and textural profile of optimised protein inks were also studied. This RSM-based approach for multi-component food ink optimization is envisioned to be widely adopted in 3D food printing.