Potential applications of dairy products, ingredients and formulations in 3D printing

Milk is a complex biological fluid containing multiple macronutrients capable of structure formation, which may make dairy materials useful for 3D food printing applications. For example, milk fat provides the consistency and melting properties of butter and ghee, lactose crystals provide ‘bulk’ in pharmaceutical formulations such as tablets, while milk proteins are responsible for the solid characteristics of cheese and yoghurt. Advances in separation technology have made individual milk protein fractions available; depending on the protein isolate used, and conditions applied, different types of structures are possible, from rigid and clear to soft and opaque. The diverse structure-forming capabilities of milk components make them attractive for 3D printing applications, whether as bases for printed dairy products or as ingredients in other printable foods. This chapter focuses on the structure-forming potential of dairy-sourced materials and gives an overview of the latest research in printable dairy structures.