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Food loss and waste valorization offers a sustainable source of biopolymers in bioinks for 3D printing

Nature Food volume 6, pages 323–330 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

Food loss and waste (FLW) valorization remains challenging due to mixed properties and composition arising from seasonal and regional variations in food production. Here we examine the capacities of 3D printing for valorizing FLW streams, with a focus on FLW-based bioinks. We consider how waste management practices, 3D printing technology and emerging FLW valorization techniques could address challenges concerning raw material sourcing, improved material printability and suitable mechanical properties. Bioink ingredients incorporating biologically active compounds derived from FLW streams could offer tailored functionalities, supporting food preservation and economic, health and environmental sustainability benefits in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.

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Fig. 1: The landscape of FLW.
Fig. 2: The content versus recovery of cellulose fibres, cellulose nanocrystals, pectin, collagen and gelatin in different food wastes.

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Acknowledgements

D.L. acknowledges support from the Agricultural Science and Technology Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (ASTIP-TRIC01). M.T. acknowledges support from the Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia, under the Higher Institution Centre of Excellence, Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries programme.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Meysam Madadi, Hamid Amiri.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China

    Meysam Madadi & Guojie Song

  2. Key Laboratory for Tobacco Gene Resources, Tobacco Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Qingdao, China

    Meysam Madadi & Dan Liu

  3. Higher Institution Centre of Excellence, Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Kuala Nerus, Malaysia

    Hamid Amiri & Meisam Tabatabaei

  4. Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biological Science and Technology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

    Hamid Amiri

  5. State Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Arable Land in China, Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China

    Junting Pan

  6. School of Biotechnology, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    Vijai Kumar Gupta

  7. DCU Life Sciences Institute, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    Vijai Kumar Gupta

  8. Biodesign Europe, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

    Vijai Kumar Gupta

  9. Department of Agricultural Machinery, Faculty of Agriculture, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

    Mortaza Aghbashlo

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  1. Meysam Madadi
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Contributions

M.M. and H.A. are co-first authors. M.M. and H.A. were responsible for data collection, analysis and drafting the original manuscript. J.P. handled data visualization. G.S. ensured data accuracy and relevance. D.L. conceptualized the study and secured funding. V.K.G. contributed to the study’s conceptualization and design. M.A. and M.T. jointly contributed to the conceptualization, supervised the research process and provided guidance throughout. All authors critically reviewed and approved the final paper.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Dan Liu, Vijai Kumar Gupta, Mortaza Aghbashlo or Meisam Tabatabaei.

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Nature Food thanks Wei-Hsin Chen, Prakash Kumar Nayak and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Madadi, M., Amiri, H., Pan, J. et al. Food loss and waste valorization offers a sustainable source of biopolymers in bioinks for 3D printing. Nat Food 6, 323–330 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-025-01146-7

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