3d food printing: study and applications to produce innovative food products.

3D printing (3DP) represents an innovative and emerging technology aiming to build three-dimensional objects starting from the computer-aided model. During last years main studies showed the application of this technology to produce innovative foods. The main aim of this research was the better understanding and the implementation of 3D Printing in the food sector aiming to contribute to the creation of food with unprecedented properties. After an analysis on the temporal evolution of 3D Food Printing (3DFP) in scientific field, a variety of relevant aspects have been studied: the capability of modifying the texture properties of the end products by means of accurate design of the digital models and the printing at high speed that could open for a more practical application at industrial level. Moreover, the studies have focused on two different matrix: cereals based and starchy gels, printing geometric structures (cube, parallelepiped) and design inspired by nature (apple tissue). The thesis is structured in 8 chapters: a brief introduction (chapter 1), objects and outlines of research (chapter 2) and the other sections consists of five published papers in international peer reviewed journals ‘Drawing the scientific landscape of 3D Food Printing. Maps and interpretation of the global information in the first 13 years of detailed experiments, from 2007 to 2020’(chapter 3); ‘Rheological properties, dispensing force and printing fidelity of starchy-gels modulated by concentration, temperature and resting time’ (chapter 4). The chapters 5 and 6 has been dedicated to the creation of 3D-printed food with desired and programmable mechanical properties: ‘Programmable texture properties of cereal-based snack mediated by 3D printing technology’ (chapter 5), ‘Extending 3D food printing application. Apple tissues microstructure as CAD model to create innovative cereal-based snacks’ (chapter 6). Chapter 7 focused on speed up of 3DFP: ‘Extending the 3D food printing tests at high speed. Material deposition and effect of non-printing movements on the final quality of printed structures’. Finally chapter 8 contains the conclusions and some general discussion of the thesis.

La stampa 3D degli alimenti rappresenta una tecnologia innovativa ed emergente capace di costruire un oggetto tridimensionale partendo da un modello CAD creato su software di disegno grafico. Durante gli ultimi anni molti studi hanno dimostrato come questa tecnologia sia stata applicata per la produzione di alimenti nuovi. L’obiettivo principale di questa tesi è stato l’approfondimento e il miglioramento della tecnologia di stampa 3D nel settore alimentare contribuendo alla creazione di alimenti dalle proprietà mai esplorate prima. Dopo un’analisi dell’evoluzione temporale della tecnologia di stampa 3D nel settore alimentare, una varietà di altri aspetti sono stati studiati, tra cui la capacità di creare e modificare alimenti dalle nuove texture attraverso la progettazione di nuovi design, inoltre è stata oggetto di studio la stampa 3D ad alta velocità, tema interessante dal punto di vista dell’applicazione in campo industriale. Gli studi si sono focalizzati sull’utilizzo di due diverse matrici di stampa: impasto a base di cereali e gel a base d’amido, stampando strutture geometriche (cubi, parallelepipedi) e design ispirati alla natura (tessuti interni delle mele). La tesi è strutturata in 8 capitoli: una breve introduzione (capitolo 1), obiettivi e linee di ricerca (capitolo 2) e altri cinque capitoli corrispondenti alle 5 pubblicazioni su riviste internazionali; Drawing the scientific landscape of 3D Food Printing. Maps and interpretation of the global information in the first 13 years of detailed experiments, from 2007 to 2020’(capitolo 3) and ‘Rheological properties, dispensing force and printing fidelity of starchy-gels modulated by concentration, temperature and resting time’ (capitolo 4). I capitoli 5 e 6 sono dedicati alla creazione di alimenti stampati in 3D con proprietà meccaniche desiderate e personalizzabili: Programmable texture properties of cereal-based snack mediated by 3D printing technology’ (capitolo 5), ‘Extending 3D food printing application. Apple tissues microstructure as CAD model to create innovative cereal-based snacks’ (capitolo 6). Il capitolo 7 si è focalizzato sulla stampa 3D ad alta velocità: ‘Extending the 3D food printing tests at high speed. Material deposition and effect of non-printing movements on the final quality of printed structures’. E infine il capitolo 8 racchiude le conclusioni e alter discussioni generali riguardanti la tesi.