3D printing of egg yolk and white with rice flour blends

Abstract

3D printing of foods is an emerging technique for customized fabrication of food matrices. Importantly, a well optimized formulation can be an excellent channel to deliver macro and micro nutrients. Egg is packed with nutrients and has several functional properties. This work presents a comparative study on the printability of egg yolk (EY) and egg white (EW) with blends of rice flour, focusing on optimization of various extrusion printing parameters including printing composition, nozzle height, nozzle diameter, printing speed, extrusion motor speed and extrusion rate. In addition, different physical, mechanical and rheological properties of the material supply were studied. Results showed that the addition of filler agent (rice flour at 1:1 and 1:2 w/w) had a significant effect on the improvement of stability and strength of printed EY and EW. EY at 1:2 (EY: rice flour) could be 3D printed with fine precision and higher layer definition at 600 and 800 mm/min printing speeds at 180 rpm motor speed using a 0.84 mm nozzle at 0.005 cm3/s extrusion rate with minimal changes in colour. This work provides insights on the suitability of EY as a promising material for 3D food printing applications.