Food creation with 3D gel printer for foods

Abstract

The market of care food is growing for aging society and the personal version of care food will be needed for improving a fun of meal. On this occasion, 3D printing technologies have been developed and are being applied for food creation. In the present study, we prepare food ink for the world-first 3D gel printer designed by our group. The hardness of food is one of the most important factors that influence the texture of food. So that the jelly foods made by the 3D gel printer is designed being soft and easy to chew. Here four kinds of jelly food samples are prepared by using agar and gelatin as gelation agents. The mechanical strength of the jelly foods is evaluated by a compression test for foods. We measured the hardness (maxmum stress) of the jelly foods and succeeded in the preparation of various jelly foods of 8 ~ 45kPa in hardness. The gelation of agar is possibly controlled by temperature change. Thus by using the temperature change, the jelly foods are easily printed by the 3D gel printer. We hope these printed jelly foods will make it possible for elder persons to enjoy their fun of everyday meal and improve the quality of life for the elder persons.