3D-Print Calamari Microalgae Mung Bean Protein
Researchers wanted to create plant-based calamari rings that don’t taste like cardboard, so they turned to 3D-printing as well as microalgae and mung bean proteins. Microalgae is a good base because some already have a “fishy” taste, while mung bean protein is an underutilized waste product from manufacturing starch noodles, also also known as glass noodles found in many Asian dishes.



Creating the calamari rings required extracting microalgae and legume proteins in the lab before combining them with plant-based oils containing omega-3 fatty acids. What they ended up with was vegan-seafood boasting a nutritional profile similar to that of calamari rings from squid. This paste was then subjected to temperature changes, enabling it to be easily squeezed out of a 3D printer’s nozzles and layered into rings. Even though 3D-printing alone mimicked the seafood structure and texture, you’ll still want to bake, fry or sauté the rings, just like with real squid.

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3D-Print Calamari Microalgae Mung Bean Protein

We printed salmon filets with protein from red lentils because of the protein’s color, and we’ve printed shrimp. Now, we wanted to print something else interesting with the potential for commercialization — calamari rings. Plant-based seafood mimics are out there, but the ingredients don’t usually include protein. We wanted to make protein-based products that are nutritionally equivalent to or better than real seafood and address food sustainability,” said Dejian Huang, Ph.D., the principal investigator of this research.

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