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3D Printing of Food Foams
A

B

Figure 7. Demonstration of 3D food foam printing. (A) Top profile of the 3D printed structures of an octopus, lobster, turtle and hammerhead
shark (from left to right) using Ink 2. (B) Top profile of the 3D printed structures of an octopus, lobster, turtle, and hammerhead shark (from
left to right) using Ink 4.

4. Conclusions as foams are widely used for dish plating. Vegans do not
consume egg-based products, so the eggless Ink 4 may be
The structures in Figure 7 show that 3D printing can an alternative to EW in creating 3D-shaped meringues and
provide more creative and esthetically pleasing, and icing. The excellent performance of Inks 1, 2, and 4 in the
complex structures of food foams by computer-aided IDDSI tests shows that these food foams (without baking)
design (CAD) designs and a 3D food printer. Silicone are well suited for medical applications such as hydration
molds cannot accomplish the shaping of foams because it for dysphagic patients as EW consists of mainly 90% of
is almost impossible to de-mold the foam. 3DFP with foam water and the formulation in Ink 4 has approximately
[40]
allows artists to freely express their ideas and designs using 87% of water. This study has shown the possibility of 3DFP
food, enhancing visual appeal of the food, hence, elevating of stable food foams and their applications for hydration
palatability. Moreover, 3DFP provides a simple way of delivery for dysphagic patients. In the future, robotic arm-
modifying the food texture, giving chefs more freedom to based printers may be used over cartesian printers as they
work with the different food and cooking methods. However, allow both printings of the foam and assembling the foams
food foams are volatile and delicate to work with due to in 3D, using a similar concept by Awa Taccino machine
the instability of foams. In this study, the foam properties from Takara Tomy .
[41]
of the foam inks (with and without XG) proposed were
investigated. The inclusion of XG in this study stabilized Funding
food foams for high printability. XG provided additional
foam stability, which aided in producing better prints and Authors would like to thank National Additive
permitted longer storage of the printed food, as displayed Manufacturing Innovation Cluster (Project ID 2019048)
by Inks 2 and 4. The texture properties were also studied to and Singapore University of Technology and Design
understand the difference between the EW foam and HPMC (SUTD) Growth Plan, Healthcare Sector Thrust 3-3 3DFP
foam and their XG counterparts. The improvements to the (SGPHCRS1907) for the funding support. This work is
EW ink provide an alternative approach to creating artisan also supported by Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, which
meringues. In this case of 3DFP, the sugar is replaced with is funded by the Singapore National Research Foundation
fruit extract to provide a fruity and sweet taste. Several under its Medium-Sized Centre funding scheme
3D shapes were printed with the optimal Inks 2 and 4 to Conflicts of interest
demonstrate the 3D printing of food foams. This form of
3DFP may also be used as a flavor and visual enhancer The authors declare no known conflict of interest.

166 International Journal of Bioprinting (2021)–Volume 7, Issue 4