The research progress of physical regulation techniques in 3D food printing

Background: With the increasing application of three-dimensional printing, (3D printing) in the modern food processing industry, research in this area has made great progress. Recently, the application of physical regu-lation techniques in 3D food printing has been of great interest to researchers to improve printing quality. Scope and approach: This review summarizes the various physical methods used in the pre-, in-process, and post-treatment of 3D food printing. Further, the application of energy-carrying electromagnetic fields, ultrasonic, and electric heating in the whole process of 3D food printing is highlighted. Their mechanisms of action and treat-ment effects on printing substrates with different properties are also described. Key Findings and Conclusions: Different from pre-printing methods such as expanding the range of printing substrates and adding functional materials to improve printing characteristics, physical methods such as energy-carrying electromagnetic fields, electrothermal regulation, and forming modes can affect the final quality of the printed product. This can be from printing substrate preparation to post-treatment, and expansion to four-dimensional printing, (4D printing). Successful printing requires a reasonable selection and combination of various physical regulation techniques. This helps to improve substrate printing characteristics based on different material properties and desired results to obtain high-quality printed products, according to this review.