The process of 3D food printing is a rapidly growing field that involves the use of specialized 3D printers to produce food items with complex shapes and textures. This technology allows the creation of customized, nutritionally balanced meals on demand. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of apricot pulp content on printability. Additionally, the degradation of bioactive compounds of gels before and after printing was evaluated to analyze the effect of the process. For this proposal, physicochemical properties, extrudability, rheology, image analysis, Texture Profile Analysis (TPA), and bioactive compounds content were evaluated. The rheological parameters lead to higher mechanical strength and, thus, a decrease in elastic behavior before and after 3D printing as the pulp content increases. An increase in strength was observed when the pulp content increased; thus, sample gels with 70% apricot pulp were more rigid and presented better buildability (were more stable in their dimensions). On the other hand, a significant (p < 0.05) degradation of total carotenoid content after printing was observed in all samples. From the results obtained, it can be said that the gel with 70% apricot pulp food ink was the best sample in terms of printability and stability.
Keywords: bioactive compounds; fruity gels; printability; rheology; texture.