Modification strategies and multi-scene applications for plant proteins in 3D food printing: A review

3D printing technology reveals considerable advantages in production of personalized foods. Plant proteins have become a popular material for 3D printed foods due to their low cost, environmental friendliness and health benefits. However, plant protein-based 3D printing still faces challenges including raw material selection, structural modification, ink improvement, and application innovation. This paper systematically reviews the sources and modification methods of plant proteins that can be used for 3D food printing, discusses the diversified applications of printed products, and proposes a process of multi-scale simulation of plant protein-based 3D printing using artificial intelligence (AI). The review also points out the current challenges and solutions. Results indicate that plant protein materials suitable for 3D printed foods still need further development. Furthermore, the functional properties of plant proteins are insufficient to meet the requirements of 3D printing and need to be modified and strengthened through physical, chemical, biological or other means. Exploring proper methods that can both improve quality and efficiency is a major direction for enhancing the 3D printing performance of plant proteins. The printed products based on the modified plant proteins display broad application prospects in easy-to-swallow foods, plant-based meat alternatives, 3D-printed scaffold for cell-cultured meat, precision nutrition, and 4D printing. Additionally, AI can be utilized to simulate and predict the process of 3D food printing, enabling the development of intelligent manufacturing of plant protein-based products. The review provides a new perspective for promoting 3D food printing based on plant proteins.