Evaluation of 3D printability of blueberry powder gel system under ultrasound pretreatment

Abstract

To achieve the personalized food of 3D manufacturing of blueberry powder (BP) with high nutritional value, the potato starch (PS) and low methoxy pectin (LMP) were selected as matrix material carrying BP to prepare the gels for 3D printing. The 3D printability of the ultrasound-treated gels was evaluated in terms of flow and forming properties. The results indicated that the addition of PS improved the flowability and support stability of the gels due to the non-covalent bonding interaction between the components of the additives and BP via hydrogen bonding. The ultrasound treatment of the gels can cause the cross-linking of PS and LMP to form a uniform and compact structure, which improves the 3D printing fidelity. A Principal Component Analysis-Multiple Linear Regression (PCA-MLR) model is developed to evaluate the 3D printability of BP gels as a function of the flow and thermal properties of the gels, and the texture of the 3D printed food system. The research results may provide a new method for the 3D printing of food powders such as BP.