3D food printing curing technology based on gellan gum

The fluid state of 3D food printing products greatly limits the customization of the shape. To improve the molding quality, a 3D food printing curing technology based on the temperature-sensitive phase-change characteristics of gellan gum was developed. Corn starch was used as the printing substrate to produce a gel that solidifies during printing. The pre-gelatinized starch slurry containing gellan gum was placed in a barrel with a heating function and extruded onto the printing platform at room temperature. Rheological tests, printing quality evaluations, and low-field nuclear magnetic fields proved that the slurry with gellan gum had good extrusion and printing feasibility. The product supplemented with 4% or 6% gellan gum exhibited significant plastic deformation, which indicated formation of a solid gel. Temperature sweep rheology analyses revealed that gellan gum guided the curing performance by affecting the curing temperature and curing speed of the slurry. Gellan gum improved hardness of the product and destroyed the network structure by self-cooling cross-linking and inhibiting starch gelatinization, which changed product adhesion.