Dinner is Served and it’s 3D Printed Salmon

What’s on tonight’s menu? Thanks to a student-based R&D team now steering a new startup, it could be a 3D printed vegan alternative to salmon.

The startup, Legendary Vish, founded by a trio of students from The University of Gothenburg, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, and The Technical University of Denmark, began work on the EU-led 3D printing project in 2017. Their efforts were part of Training4CRM, a research project employing 3D printing to develop cell-based treatments for neurodegenerative disorders. That group had been using FELIXprinters’ BIOprinter and midway into the project, they realized that similar techniques could be applied to 3D print plant-based proteins.

Spurred on by the rise of greenhouse gases and the challenges related to overfishing, the team of students saw opportunity to differentiate itself in the plant-based seafood movement and promote more sustainable food production. The team began developing its plant-based, vegan-friendly fish alternative using the FELIXprinter BIOprinter, which allows for complex structures that are impossible to output using traditional 3D printing extrusion technologies, company officials said. The FELIXprinter BIOprinter’s extruders can output different viscosity of materials, which is instrumental in recreating the culinary experience of traditional animal products like steaks or fish fillets.

The FELIX BIOprinter, equipped with two print heads and a fully open source system, can print two different bio-inks simultaneously, and its linear motor ensures accurate dosing. In addition, the printer features automatic bed leveling to ensure that prints are consistent and of high quality. The student team was able to extrude different plant-based ingredients (food inks, if you will) through the different print heads, enabling them to realistically replicate the distribution of the orange/red meat tissue and white connective tissue of salmon.

Watch this video to see how others are experimenting with 3D printing as a means of creating plant-based meat alternatives.