3D printing has been trying to feed for a few years. In 2011, researchers had already developed a food printer . The food thus obtained was edible, but the taste was not yet there. It was even possible to making chocolate with custom shapes . A few years later, a new 3D printer made custom crests, in all shapes and sizest of all colors .
A team researchers from the University of São Paulo in Brazil, the Oniris National Veterinary School in Nantes and the INRAE have developed a new technique for transforming starch . It is precisely about cassava and wheat starch. Their transformation creates gels that serve as ink to 3D print food.
The ingredients in gel form are created from starch from cassava and wheat
Initially, the gels were created on the basis of cassava starch . The structure and properties of the starch were changed with ozone. The researchers could then obtain gels with different properties to addster the consistency they needed.
Next, the new technique developed by researchers over the past two years is a transformation of cassava and wheat starch . The process involves heating cassava and wheat starch in an oven. Temperature and time are controlled. Professor Pedro Esteves Duarte Augusto of the University of São Paulo said: “We have had good results with both methods. They are simple, inexpensive and easy to use on an industrial scale. ”
Thanks to these new gels, the researchers aim to personalize shapes, textures and flavors and the colors of the food printed in 3D. In fact, the researchers explained that these gels can be used for something other than food. They can for example be used to print drug capsules or even nutraceuticals, also called alicaments. 3D printing therefore continues to make progress. A few months ago, researchers used McDonald's frying oil to serve as 3D printing resin .