Date of Graduation
5-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science in Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
Food Science
Advisor/Mentor
Ubeyitogullari, Ali
Committee Member/Reader
Seo, Han-Seok
Committee Member/Second Reader
Baum, Jamie
Abstract
Vegetables are healthy foods with nutritional benefits; however, nearly one-third of the world’s fruits and vegetables are lost each year. The losses have the same nutritional value as an acceptable vegetable but have odd shapes or blemishes that make them unsuitable to consumers. 3D technology has numerous capabilities in the automotive, healthcare, and, now, food industries. Within the food industry, 3D food printing can bring customization to product design and nutrition as well as other advancements, including decreasing food waste. In this study, imperfect vegetables (i.e., broccoli and carrot) were upcycled into freeze-dried powders to improve their shelf-life before they were formed into food inks for 3D printing. The rheology of the food inks, color analysis of the uncooked and cooked designs, and texture analysis of the cooked designs were determined. All the food inks displayed stability after printing with the control, wheat flour-based formulation, having the lowest level of stability. The rheological results showed that all the food inks displayed shear-thinning behavior. Most of the samples showed no significant color difference between the raw and cooked samples, but there were some significant differences between the formulations. The hardness of the samples with higher substitution of vegetable powders was significantly different from the ones with lower levels of substitution. More research is needed to determine the marketability of the printed snack, but the results show that 3D food printing has a place in utilizing food waste.
Keywords
3D food printing; imperfect vegetables; carrot; broccoli; healthy snacks; food loss and waste
Citation
Clary, T. (2023). Upcycling Imperfect Broccoli and Carrot to Healthy Snacks using an Innovative 3D Food Printing Approach. Food Science Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/fdscuht/15
