Journal of Agriculture and Food Research 10 (2022) 100392

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Journal of Agriculture and Food Research

journal homepage: www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-agriculture-and-food-research

Emerging applications of 5D and 6D printing in the food industry

Sundus Nida, Jeyan A. Moses, C. Anandharamakrishnan *
Computational Modeling and Nanoscale Processing Unit, National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management - Thanjavur, Ministry of Food
Processing Industries, Government of India, Thanjavur, 613005, Tamil Nadu, India

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: 3D and 4D printing are well-established additive manufacturing techniques in the food sector. However, there
3D printing are several challenges associated with 3D/4D technique that needs to be addressed. 3D printing technique prints
4D printing structures in a flat shape with less mechanical strength. It requires additional support material to print structures
5D printing
in most complex shaped geometry such as curved surfaces. The 4D printing method requires additional stimuli to
6D printing
Future food manufacturing
change the morphology of the printed geometry. These challenges can be overcome by using the 5D printing
technique where the product gets printed using three movements and two rotational axes without the use of
additional support material. In this regard, this paper presents the perspective on using the 5D and 6D printing
techniques in the food sector. 5D printing technique can be used for developing very complex-shaped confec­
tionary items, and curved snack products. It could be advantageous if used in the printing of food packaging
materials such as curved-shaped boxes and tableware items (cups, bowls). Furthermore, 6D printing can also be
applied in the food sector, resulting in the development of stronger objects with higher responses to external
stimuli.

1. Introduction
3D and 4D printing are emerging technologies in the food industry.
3D printing techniques have been utilized in making customized food
products for personalized nutrition, nutrient-enriched snacks [1], foods
for dysphagic patients [2], food waste utilization [3], food packaging
[4], etc. 3D printing involves the deposition of food products in a
layer-by-layer manner to form a three-dimensional structure. In food 3D
printing, rheological characteristics play an important role in the
deposition of subsequent layers. The viscosity, elasticity, and consis­
tency of the feed material need to be understood during the printing
process. The rheological properties also affect the sensory quality and
printing precision of 3D printed structures. Additionally, additives such
as hydrocolloids, lipids, carbohydrates, salts, etc. have been used to
improve the flowability of the printing material. Additives not only
improve the rheology of material supply but also helps in enhancing the
taste, flavor, and texture of printed food [5].
There are four types of 3D printing techniques namely, extrusion-
based printing, selective sintering, binder jetting, and inkjet printing
[18]. Among all the printing techniques, extrusion-based printing is a
widely adopted method in food. It could be done by using the room
temperature or hot-melt extrusion method. Food (dough or paste) is
extruded in the form of filament out of the nozzle and deposited on the
printing platform. The selective sintering process utilizes hot air or a
laser source to sinter the particles to form 3D structures. Sugar or
sugar-rich powders are used in making 3D structures using selective
sinter printing. In the binder jetting technique, the powder layer is first
distributed on the printing platform and then the liquid binder is used to
join two successive powder layers. Sugars and starch mixtures have been
studied using the binder jetting technique. Inkjet printing involves the
use of low-viscosity food and is commonly used in cake decoration or
filling of pizza bases [6].
4D printing is an extension of the 3D printing process where the
physical and chemical state of a 3D printed object changes over time
(fourth dimension) due to external stimuli such as pH, temperature,
water, light, etc. 4D printing has been utilized in various food applica­
tions such as in changing the shape of 3D purple sweet potato [7],
starch-based gel [8], and pumpkin paper [9]. 4D printing was studied in
changing the color of anthocyanin-potato starch gel [10] and sago starch
with turmeric [11]. 4D printing showed a change in the flavor of soy
protein isolates, pumpkin and beetroot powder [12], a mix of vanillin
powder, potato starch, and different fruit juices [13]. Furthermore, it
also helps in changing the nutritional value of lettuce cells and pectin
matrix [14], ergosterol-incorporated purple sweet potato [15], etc.

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: moses.ja@iifpt.edu.in (J.A. Moses), anandharamakrishnan@iifpt.edu.in (C. Anandharamakrishnan).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2022.100392
Received 17 June 2022; Received in revised form 12 September 2022; Accepted 15 September 2022
Available online 24 September 2022
2666-1543/© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0/).
S. Nida et al.
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of 5D printing technique.
Fig. 2. Printing of cap using 5D printer [14].
Though 3D and 4D printing proved to have various successful ap­
plications in the food sector, however, certain limitations need to be
addressed. 3D printing involves the use of extra support material for the
printability of complex structures such as curved surfaces. 3D-printed
structures are printed in a flat shape that creates a weak point in
them. On the other hand, 4D printing also requires extra material to
change the shape of an object and further needs post-processing tech­
niques to remove the supporting material. This leads to a higher printing
cost due to the longer processing time consumed in building the struc­
tures. Thus, to overcome these challenges, the 5D printing technique can
be used to construct structures with complex shapes and higher me­
chanical strength as it requires no use of fillers or additional supporting
Fig. 3. Comparison of bending deformation of 4D and 6D printed structure [16].
2
Journal of Agriculture and Food Research 10 (2022) 100392
structures.
2. 5D and 6D printing
5D printing is a hybrid technology that involves subtractive as well
as additive manufacturing techniques. It involves the printing of very
complex structures using three movements (X, Y, and Z) axes plus the
two rotational axes. The X, Y, and Z axes are the printing head and the
two rotational axes are the printing bed of the printer as shown in Fig. 1.
5D printing was first introduced by Mitsubishi Electric Research Labo­
ratories (MERL) in 2016. MERL research team experimented with the
printing of pressure caps (Fig. 2) using a 5D printer. They found that the
cap printed using a 5D printer (3.7 MPa) showed higher mechanical
strength than the 3D printed structure (0.1 MPa) [16]. Ethereal ma­
chines, Bengaluru, India developed a hybrid “Halo 5D printer” that can
be used in making jewelry and car parts [17]. Thus, a product with
higher strength could be achieved in multiple dimensions with 25% less
material than 3D printing [16].
As evidenced by the previous work on 5D printing, this technology
can potentially be applied in the 5D printing of food and food packaging
material. Food products that require complex shapes such as ball-shaped
confectionary items, concave-shaped chips, or snacks can be printed
using 5D printing technology. It can also be used in food packaging for
the development of complex-shaped boxes, and tableware such as cups,
and bowls that require additional support material in 3D printing could
be printed using 5D printing technology.
6D printed objects can be produced as a result of 5D printing with the
introduction of smart materials. It is considered as offspring of 5D
printing technology and the concept was first introduced by Geor­
gantzinos et al. in 2021 [16]. They have demonstrated the advantage of
6D printing over 4D printing technology (Fig. 3). Left (4D printed) and
right (6D printed) samples are developed by combining layers of
different polymeric media. The left sample is printed in a flat horizontal
shape as a result of 3D printing. On the other hand, the right sample
when printed in V-shape layers (achieved using 5D printing) showed
better deformation and bending angles. By applying appropriate pro­
cessing parameters, 6D printing may save time and cost. Therefore, 6D
printing could be used in the food sector for producing strong materials
with higher sensitivity to stimuli.
3. Conclusion
5D printing results in the formation of very complex structures that
could be challenging to be achieved using 3D printing technology. The
technique could be utilized in food printing without requirements for
extra support material. The approach is considered to help in fabricating
structures with 25% less material and higher mechanical strength. With
promising evidence in making curve-shaped caps, this could be further
applied in the printing of food packaging materials. As an extension, 6D
printing is also set to offer a promising application range for the food
S. Nida et al.
industry. Overall, these fields remain underexplored and have ample
potential for research and commercial applications.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
This article is a perspective. Relevant data have been included in the
manuscript.
Acknowledgment
The first author thanks the Council of Scientific & Industrial
Research (CSIR), India for the Senior Research Fellowship (SRF).
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