And they replicated the flakiness and mouth feel of real fish by 3D printing a protein-based ink with a food-grade 3D printer. Depositing the edible ink layer by layer created different textures, some fatty and smooth and others fibrous and chewy, in a single product.
In this work, the team tested two sustainable, high-protein plant sources: microalgae and mung beans. Some microalgae already have a “fishy” taste, which Vijayan says made them a good candidate to use in the squid-ring analogue. And mung bean protein is an underutilized waste product from manufacturing starch noodles, also called cellophane or glass noodles, which are a popular ingredient in many Asian dishes.
3D printing gave the seafood mimic structure and texture, but consumers will still want to bake, fry or sauté it, just like they do with real squid, says Huang. So, in an initial cooking test, Vijayan air-fried some of the samples as they would be prepared for a snack. The researchers tried the plant-based calamari, remarking on their acceptable taste and promising texture properties.
And while this plant-based mimic might provide a seafood fix for people with allergies to mollusks, which includes squid, Huang isn’t sure whether people could be sensitive to its ingredients. “I don’t think that there are many known cases of allergies to microalgae proteins or mung bean proteins. But we don’t know yet because it’s still a new combination,” he says.