Chitradurga Obaiah Mohan

3D printing is the latest novel technology for developing complex food and other non-food items in an easy way. Engineered food products are gaining increased importance due to the advantages it offers like refinement of food textures, tailoring the nutritional profile and ensuring food security. The present study was aimed to optimize the formulations for fabricating novel 3D printed fish product fortified with a marine lipid. The formulations were developed from both fresh and canned fish mince of coryphaena hippurus along with the ingredients like corn flour and egg white. Marine oil from Indian oil sardine (sardinella longiceps) was incorporated to the formulations. Eleven formulations were developed varying the levels of ingredients which were loaded to the Food Bot 3D printer. The formulations were printed in shark model developed with a 3D software. Moisture content, hardness, instrumental colour and flow rate of the formulations were monitored in the study. The formulations with minced fresh fish, exhibited varying moisture content (47 to 58%) compared to the uniform moisture content exhibited by canned fish mince (51–52%). The formulation with 60% canned fish mince,16% egg white, 16% corn flour and 8% sardine oil yielded better product. The printed product resembled well to the 3D digital model. The moisture content and shear force required to cut the baked product was observed to be 2.3% and 54.66 N respectively. Even though baking had caused slight reduction of essential fatty acids like EPA and DHA, the developed product still retained substantial levels of them.

This study was aimed to compare the biophysical properties of brown shrimp (Metapenaeus dobsonii) thawed using microwave in comparison with the conventional thawing methods. Time required for thawing was 2, 7 and 48 h for water, atmospheric air and refrigerated thawing respectively, compared to only 22, 15, 12, 9 and 6 min for microwave thawing at 0.4, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6 and 2.0 kW power, respectively. Among conventional methods, least thawing loss was 20.13% observed for refrigerated thawing, followed by water and atmospheric air thawing whereas for microwave processed (0.4 kW) shrimp, it was better (18.3%). Indole and TVBN values of 0.4 kW microwave processed shrimp is comparable with the refrigerated thawed shrimp. Loss of NPN content ranged between 4.87 and 24.39% with least loss for 0.4 and 0.8 kW microwave power indicating least influence on the quality changes. Microwave thawing also improved chewiness and springiness of shrimps and sensory score ranged from 7.8 to 8.1, indicating its acceptability.

The 3D printing technique offers immense opportunities to manufacture foods tailored to individual preferences, with added benefits to address malnutrition. Malnutrition is a major public health issue that impedes the development of nations worldwide. Fortification with functional ingredients is a promising approach to combat this problem. However, consumer acceptance of fortified foods remains low due to their bland taste and unfamiliar formats. This situation has created the demand for customized, fortified products made with novel technologies like 3D printing. This review compiles research findings from the last 15 years on 3D printing in food manufacturing. It provides a detailed review on various technological options available for 3D printing, with emphasis on recent research related to functional food. Previous studies have demonstrated that 3D food printing is a highly promising novel technology capable of providing personalized nutrition. 3D food printers primarily use extrusion technology to create nutrient-rich food products in various 3D designs, meeting both the aesthetic and functional preferences of consumers. This technology is expected to revolutionize the functional food industry in the near future, due to its various applications.

BACKGROUND: Three‐dimensional (3D) printing of fish combines the novel processing technique and the nutritional profile of fish. Despite increased customer acceptability, the fabrication of these products represents an effective strategy in combating deficiency disorders. In the present study, the effect of flour types on the proximate composition, amino acid profile, mineral profile, protein quality indices and benefit–risk ratio were evaluated for the developed 3D printed fish products, enriched with marine lipid. RESULTS: The protein content of wheat flour‐based product was observed to be higher (430.2 g kg ⁻¹ ). Lysine was the predominant amino acid present. Indices such as essential amino acid index, nutritional index and biological value were found to be 67.47, 29.02 and 61.84, respectively, for wheat flour‐based product compared to corn‐flour based product 65.26, 21.03 and 66.1 for cornflour‐based product. The presence of toxic heavy metals was very low in the products, with mercury, cobalt, chromium and nickel below detection levels. Phosphorus was present in satisfactory amounts in both the baked products (2096 and 1680 ppm in wheat flour and cornflour‐based products, respectively). The benefit–risk ratio analysis yielded values lower than 1 for the products. CONCLUSION: The 3D printed fish products developed exhibited optimal nutritional composition. Calcium and potassium content were found to be of satisfactory quantity and iron and zinc in reasonable quantity for a 3D printed product. Glutamic acid was the major amino acid followed by aspartic acid, leucine and lysine. The study indicated a beneficial effect of consuming fish‐based 3D printed product. © 2025 Society of Chemical Industry.

The aim of this study was to compare the drying kinetics, proximate composition, instrumental texture and colour profiling of dried shrimp (Metapenaeus dobsonii) under open sun drying (30±2°C), solar with electricity backup drying (60°C) and advanced microwave (1000W/60°C) drying techniques. Initially, the drying rate was faster and inversely related to the progress of time. Upon comparison, it was observed that the drying rate was highest in the microwave drying technique compared to solar with electric backup drying and open sun drying. The protein (15.76 to 71.12%), fat (0.39% to 5.96%) and ash content (0.54 to 3.10%) showed an increase as the drying process progressed. Furthermore, the moisture content of the dried shrimp products was observed to be in the range of 9.9 to 12.5%. The water activity of dried shrimp ranged from 0.63 to 0.69. The energy value of fresh shrimp was 70.43 kcal 100 g-1, which increased to 357 kcal 100 g-1 after drying. The hardness decreased during the drying process, while during storage, it showed an increasing trend. Higher redness and lower yellowness were observed for microwave-dried shrimps compared to other drying techniques, indicating superior quality. The study indicated more efficiency for the microwave drying technique with a higher drying rate and yielded a product with superior quality characteristics in terms of colour and texture. Keywords: Colour, Conventional drying, Drying kinetics, Microwave drying, Shrimp, Texture

Microwave processing is used in industry for drying food commodities as it improves the quality of products and reduces the drying period.