Printability and Fidelity of Protein-Enriched 3D Printed Foods: A Case Study Using Cricket and Pea Protein Powder

3D food printing has received high attention in personalized meal production and customized food designs in recent years due to its potential advantages over traditional food manufacturing methods. A current challenge in 3D food printing is the design of extrudable food materials that enable customized shape fabrication and retention. Additives such as starches and gums have been employed to improve food printability, however, these often detrimentally affect taste, texture, and nutrients. Our study explores the printability and shape fidelity of mashed potatoes when adding protein-rich cricket and pea protein powders. Different percentages of these additives (5%, 15%, and 30%) with varied water to protein ratios (0, 1, 2, and 3) were added to 100g of mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes with the addition of cricket powder and pea powder provided the highest fidelity prints for water to additive ratios of 2 and 3, respectively. Rheological testing demonstrated these high-fidelity prints had complex modulus values ranging from 15Pa to 25Pa. Trade-offs were explored between print fidelity, complex modulus, and protein content for mashed potatoes with cricket protein that highlighted the relative trade-offs in 3D food printing recipes. These findings demonstrate that a design space including shape fidelity, printability, and nutritional profile provides rich trade-offs for promoting user satisfaction and health, thereby providing designers new opportunities to leverage 3D food printing to provide value for consumer needs and health.