Italy crafts lab-grown snacks with fruit residues, plant cells and a 3D printer

15 Dec 2025, 10:00 · CNA · Join

Plant-based 3D-printed sliced meat are served at Impact Food restaurant in Rome, Italy, December 1, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

Machine irrigates microgreens inside ENEA's Inflatable cultivation module simulating space conditions in Rome, Italy November 4, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

3D snack bars made from plant cell cultures and by-products from the agri-food industry are printed at the Elthub plant in Oricola, Italy, November 24, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

3D snack bars made from plant cell cultures and by-products from the agri-food industry are on display at the Elthub plant in Oricola, Italy, November 24, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

Silvia Massa, head of ENEA’s Agriculture 4.0 laboratory, and technician Elisabetta Bennici work on microgreens in a container farm in Rome, Italy, November 4, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli

Read a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST
FAST

ROME, Dec 15 : Scientists in Italy are developing sweet snacks with lab-grown plant cells and fruit residues, producing a material that a 3D printer can then process into 'pastries' with high nutritional content.

Italy's rich culinary traditions may have just gained UNESCO heritage status, but the Nutri3D project by the country's public research agency ENEA shows scientists are out to push boundaries in the quest for sustainable, nutrient-rich snacks.

Prototypes include snack bars and glossy "honey pearls" designed to preserve flavour and nutritional value.

"In a world where arable land is shrinking and climate change forces us to rethink food production, the goal is to keep making what we are used to eating," said Silvia Massa, head of ENEA's Agriculture 4.0 lab.

Subscribe to our Chief Editor’s Week in Review
Our chief editor shares analysis and picks of the week's biggest news every Saturday.

This service is not intended for persons residing in the E.U. By clicking subscribe, I agree to receive news updates and promotional material from Mediacorp and Mediacorp’s partners.
Loading

The aim "is not to grow the plant itself, but its cells," she added.

Northern Europe has led early efforts, with Finnish labs producing fruit compotes from cell cultures and researchers in Zurich developing cocoa-like flavourings.

"We Italians add creativity, combining cellular food with recovered by-products," Massa said, referring to the fruit residues from jam production for example.

The project is run with EltHub — an Italian private technology R&D firm that is part of ELT Group — and Rigoni di Asiago, a family-owned company specialising in organic food products.

At EltHub in the central region of Abruzzo, ENEA's plant-based "inks" are shaped using a 3D printer.

An ENEA survey found 59 per cent of respondents willing to try such foods.

The technology could also be useful in resource-scarce settings, such as space or in conflict zones, said EltHub director Ermanno Petricca, dubbing the snacks "fruit for astronauts".

ENEA is also testing microgreens and nano-tomatoes for space cultivation.

On Earth, 3D food printing could enable tailored nutrition for people with dietary restrictions. A plant-based steakhouse in Rome, Impact Food, is already offering 3D-printed sliced meat on its menu.

Newsletter

Week in Review

Subscribe to our Chief Editor’s Week in Review

Our chief editor shares analysis and picks of the week's biggest news every Saturday.

Sign up for our newsletters

Get our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inbox

Subscribe here

Get the CNA app

Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories

Download here

Get WhatsApp alerts

Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app

Join here