Texture properties of microwave post-processed 3D printed potato snack with different ingredients and infill structure

3D printing has the advantage to modify food texture by regulating internal structure. In this study, 3D printing was used to design the infill structure and microwave vacuum drying (MVD) was used to post-process the potato-based snack. Results indicated that MVD was a promising post-processing method with a high drying efficiency and good maintenance of structure information of 3D printed samples. Increased microwave power reduced the drying time, but increased the heating non-uniformity. NaCl addition increased the dielectric loss factor (ε′′), reduced the drying time and hardness of MVD products. Sucrose addition did not affect the dying time, but increased the hardness of products. Infill percentage and infill pattern closely related to the hardness of samples. Increased infill percentage increased the hardness of samples. Cast-made samples and 100% infill 3D printed samples were not suitable for MVD post-processing. Finally, product with various texture within one sample was produced by adjusting the infill structure of each part. This study provides a new aspect to modify food texture by changing infill structure, with MVD as a post-processing method.