Unlocking the performance of wet and dry-fractionated pea proteins in 3D food printing

Journal article, 2026

This study investigated how fractionation method (dry fractionated (PPC) vs. wet fractionated (PPI)) affects pea protein 3D printability and rheological behavior at 10–50 wt.%. The potential of preheating and hydrocolloid addition (carrageenan, pectin, and xanthan gum) in enhancing their 3D printability, texture and microstructure was also evaluated. PPI alone showed good printability at 30 wt.%, while PPC remained unprintable even at 50 wt.% due to fiber-induced network disruption and low viscosity. However, PPC’s printability was restored at 40 wt.% through preheating and hydrocolloid addition. PPC and PPI responded very differently to hydrocolloids: pectin improved 3D printing resolution for PPI but weakened post-steaming texture, while in PPC, only pectin provided printability without adversely affecting texture. Overall, PPI demonstrated inherent 3D printability while PPC required modification to achieve comparable performance. Hydrocolloid functionality was protein-type specific, and successful 3D printing of pea protein requires tailored formulation strategies depending on the fractionation method.