3D printing of textured soft meat analogues : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Food Technology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand. EMBARGOED until 12 July 2022.

Abstract

Meat analogue is a food product mainly made of plant proteins. It is considered to be a sustainable food, and has gained a lot of interest in the recent years. Hybrid meat is a new type of meat analogue, which mixes plant protein and meat ingredients. It helps meat analogues express similarity with real meat, and also reduces the negative environmental impact. Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology is becoming increasingly popular in food processing. 3D food printing involves modification of food structure, which leads to the creation of soft food. Currently, there is no available research on 3D printing of meat analogues. Therefore, this study was carried out to create plant and animal protein based formulations for 3D printing of hybrid meat analogues with soft texture. This study was divided into three major sections. The first section was pre-printing experiments. Preliminary extrusion trials through a syringe were done using various materials, including different meat, plant protein samples and their combination, to finalize the most suitable material and formulations for further printing test using a 3D printer. Then rheology and forward extrusion tests were carried out on these selected samples to get basic understanding of their potential printability. In the second section, extrusion-based 3D printing was conducted to print various 3D shapes. The third section of the thesis presents the characterization of 3D printed products.--Shortened abstract