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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Healthy Processed Foods Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #424681
Research Project: New Sustainable Processes, Preservation Technologies, and Product Concepts for Specialty Crops and Their Co-Products

Location: Healthy Processed Foods Research

Title: Temperature controlled cryoprinting vegetarian food with modified macro- and microstructures for dysphagia

Author
item LOU, LEO - University Of California Berkeley
item Bilbao-Sainz, Cristina
item RUBINSKY, BORIS - University Of California Berkeley

Submitted to: ACS Food Science and Technology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/18/2025
Publication Date: 7/25/2025
Citation: Lou, L., Bilbao-Sainz, C., Rubinsky, B. 2025. Temperature controlled cryoprinting vegetarian food with modified macro- and microstructures for dysphagia. ACS Food Science and Technology. 5(8):3219-3228. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.5c00556.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsfoodscitech.5c00556

Interpretive Summary: The rapidly growing aging population has led to an increased prevalence of dysphagia, making it a significant healthcare challenge.3D printing is an emerging manufacturing technology with the potential to create visually appealing and texture-modified foods for dysphagia patients. Temperature Controlled Cryoprinting (TCC) is an advanced 3D printing technology that allows precise temperature-controlled freezing of each 3D-printed voxel. This study explores the properties of TCC-printed food using pea protein as the primary material and demonstrates the first instance of printing liquid-like inks for dysphagia food applications. Additionally, a novel printing technology was developed to print a marbling structure, improving the visual appeal of the printed food. This work offers valuable insights into the development of visually appealing and texturally suitable dysphagia-friendly diets using 3D printing.

Technical Abstract: This project developed a Temperature Controlled Cryoprinting (TCC) with coaxial nozzle printing technique to print food suitable for dysphagia patients. A vegetarian food formulation was prepared using pea protein, sodium alginate, and agar-agar. Both macro- and micro-texture properties were analyzed to assess the impact including printing temperature and ink composition on food texture. The results demonstrated that TCC enables printing with super low-viscosity materials while maintaining high printing accuracy for food printing purpose. By incorporating coaxial printing, a customized marbling texture was successfully created to mimic meat-like structural characteristics. Additionally, the project investigated the influence of agar-agar concentration and printing temperature on the final food texture. Texture profile analysis (TPA) and electron microscopy revealed that by controlling the freezing temperature, it is possible to modify texture properties with the same composition, offering a new approach to tailoring food textures for individuals with swallowing difficulties.