Programmable texture properties of cereal-based snack mediated by 3D printing technology

3D food printing (3DFP) creates edible structures by a layer-by-layer deposition with the main aim of creating personalized food structures. We studied the capability to create 3D printed cereal snacks with different texture by a controlled generation of pores. The snacks well captured the overall features of the virtual model with size reduction less than 8%. Contrarily, the 3D printed snacks exhibited a great increase in porosity fraction, from 5 to 25%, while the pore's length reduced due to the crushing of dough's filament. The hardness of the snacks reduced from 289 N to 84 N following the reduction of the relative density, from 0.569 to 0.401. The model of Gibson and Ashby satisfactory fitted the experimental data showing that printed snacks with controlled voids follow the rule of cellular material. The results open interesting perspectives of creating novel foods with desired texture addressing specific requirements, or novel sensory/satiety perception. •The possibility to get different hardness by 3D printing technology were studied.•The 3D virtual models were replicated with high fidelity.•Whit baking process the samples reduced their size, while porosity fraction increased.•The maximum force to break the samples increase as a function of relative density.•The analytical model well fit the experimental data of hardness.